Montevideo, Uruguay

It was so hard to believe that month had passed and that it was now time to say "goodbye" to our friends and fellow travellers. Our trip together was exciting, full of rich experiences and another one that we shall never forget.

We were taken to the airport for our flight to Uruguay. It was short and sweet and we were in our efficiency apartment by early evening. It was a very impressive drive from the airport since Montevideo is built along the Atlantic Ocean beachfront. Our little place is one block from the beach and there is one of the longest beachfront walks we have seen on our travels.

Yesterday (our first full day) we visited a local market in the park where we picked out all kinds of vegetables (total price was less than $8 U.S.) and we bought our Mate cup. Remember the Mate ritual (pics in El Calafate) where Bob and I sipped tea from the same cup? We were told that Argentina took the prize for Mate .......nope! It is Uruguay for certain! Almost everyone we encountered had a Mate cup and thermos in their hands....even on the beach!

So I spotted the old truck which reminded me of one that Dad had on the farm. Thought I'd try my hand at fixing it...

Oops...never was good at mechanical things...

Below: Don't ask; don't know.

Materials for recycling are picked up by families in these rigs. Rather charming in a very modern city. Note the hat on the second horse.

We connected with our contacts here; people we have never met and who just cannot seem to do enough for us. We will meet them for the first time over the next few days. Darla and Peter's friend Nic's parents will be waiting for us to hop off the bus further north in Punta del Este on Wednesday. Maria, a friend of one of my friends, will meet us for dinner tomorrow or Tuesday. We are muddling along with our Spanish and hand signals and feel very comfortable here.

I'll keep you posted!

Love,

Sharon

p.s. Stopped in at a hair salon to make an appointment for a colour and cut tomorrow. They speak no English; my Spanish is a hoot and so, accompanied by my phrase book....we'll see......

Last Day in Chile

Our day began at 9 a.m. and we headed from Santiago to the Pacific. On our way, we stopped at Emiliana, an organic vineyard; a truly beautiful and peaceful place. We sampled five wines by 10 a.m....but hey, we're troopers and Canadian to boot....nothing deters us from our main objective to climb every mountain, ford every stream...drink every bottle..it's rough!!!

We picked out and purchased our favourites, along with a bottle of their olive oil and continued our trek to our original destination of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

The city of Valparaiso is picturesque with it's architecture and location on the water. It has been an inspiration to artists and poets and has been declared "cultural patrimony of mankind" by UNESCO. It is only 120 km from Santiago which makes it a numbero uno choice for vacationers. It is also where the President of Chile enjoys the only official residence; the summer palace. We were surprised to learn that whoever serves as President, lives in their own home whether it be a modest apartment or a mansion.

It seems that we share the Niagara clock with Valparaiso. Can't find it in winter in Canada anyway.

Below: The castle where we had lunch, right beside the ocean. The waiter who greeted us asked where we were from and when we told him he said "Yonge and Bloor? "Sherbourne and Wellesly?" He and his wife lived in Toronto for five years. He was proud to introduce his son who works with him and who served us our meal.

Since we didn't have time to visit Easter Island, it was lovely to encounter Rapanui.

Below: See the palm tree??? The story is that the previous owner of the property made a condition on selling, that the palm tree would remain where it was. The new owner did not comply and built this building. The previous owner took him to court, won the case and the new owner was forced to incorporate the palm into the structure, causing great loss of income from the apartments that would have been, if he had only listened.

Below: How some of the richer people in Valparaiso get from the beach to their apartments.

Next we climbed up the mountains through which streets and funiculars climb. Great boutique homes, business and views, not to mention thousands of steps to get there and back.

Yep, that's a forest fire and it got really, really dark, major roads were closed and helicopters flew about, dumping water.

Below: Terrific street art!

Wouldn't guarantee that the wiring is to code

Below: Sights in the port below

We are told that there is dulce de leche inside them thar fried tings....bring on the cardiac paddles!...and NO, we didn't try them.

Back to Santiago for our last evening in Chile.

Santiago, Day 2

Our guide Mariam, picked us up at 9 for our city tour. She is a dynamo, the mother of a 9 year old boy and has only been guiding for two years. Her knowledge of the country is amazing...all self-taught. Her biggest challenge (as it was for all our guides) was keeping us all together (our rabid photographers run off in all directions constantly) and safe from pickpockets. I must stress here that at no time did any of us feel threatened...at any time on our trip.

Here are some views of the beautiful city of Santiago.

Below: Mariam, watching over her flock (note the backpack on the front of her body)

From high above the city where rich people seem to love to build their homes...in spite of the threat of earthquakes...

and at street level below..

Below: Street art

and segway info booths that come to you!

Mariam told us to revisit a couple of subway stations for some serious (and HUGE) works of art and so off we went! This is a small sampling of what we saw.