We (with the help of Sam) had loaded maps of Chile on our Garmin Nuvi and were amazed how well they worked as we drove to the hotel. When we left for Mauricio's house we headed off blithely expecting to have no trouble, but the tall building in Santiago made it very hard for the Nuvi to find satellites! All of a sudden we were lost in Santiago without even knowing the actual address of his house! We muddled along for a while with Dan assuring us that he thought he knew the way. Finally we emerged onto a wide avenue and found signal - - - and Dan had been on the right track, we were only a few blocks away! Mauricio, his wife Carolina, their three children, Catalina, Tomas and Diego, Mauricio's parents and his brother and wife were there to share another wonderful meal and friendship with us. We all slept well when we got back to our Holiday Inn Express at 10pm.
Today Mauricio and family took us to Valparaiso to see the "most important port on the Pacific coast." What a city, streets (many cobble stone) that rival San Francisco for their inclination! Most of them were also very narrow, making it a challenge with our big van. We drove through the city and saw the open market, Congress building and many other magnificent buildings, then headed to the waterfront for a wonderful lunch. Mauricio had arranged a special table for all of us and ordered samples of all the seafood specialties of Chile, including abalone, clams, octopus and scallops for appetizers. All were delicious. We shopped the open air markets after lunch and then drove to Quintay, further south down the coast where Carolina's parents have a condo in a golf community right on the ocean. Again we were welcomed with open arms and given refreshments before our return to Santiago. We got back to the hotel at 8:30 pm and grabbed a pizza at a local shop to eat in our room.
Before we left home, we had a few worries about taking Grandma Peddie (aged 91) on such a possibly arduous adventure, but we had not thought about the emotional toll it would take. Physially she is holding up beautifully and her Spanish is coming back rapidly, but the tears!!! She is so full of joy and memories of, as she says "the best years of my life." - - - and we haven't even gotten to Concepcion where the Bliss family lived for seven years back in 1948-1955 yet! Buenos noches, D,M,J,P&Grandma P
~~~_/)~~~D&M
Jay and Pegg had to jog the length of MIA to make the plane, but they made it in time for the overnight flight to Santiago.
Grandma started the fight playing Free Cell, but ended up dozing, as did we all.
We're a little wrinkled and tired but very happy to see Mauricio, our exchange student from 1992 who met us at the airport.
Mauricio's mom Isabell served us a sumptuous breakfast and let us relax until our hotel would let us check in at 3 PM.
Saturday morning we all piled into our 14 passenger Hyundai diesel van for a trip to Valpariso.
We sampled some of the famous wine from this vineyard during our lunch in Valparaiso.
We arrived in Valparaiso in time for lunch at a famous restaurant with an astounding view of the whole harbor and an incredibly delicious menu. We had a special table for the 12 of us. The 5 Blisses, Mauricio's parents and Mauricio's 5.
The view of the harbor included the tall ship Esmeralda on the Navy pier. Martha remembers well hosting the crew of Esmeralda in New Jersey during OPSAIL 1976.
