We had a bit of time before we had to reach our Christmas destination. We had a car and we had some distance to travel, but on the scale of things we were in no hurry and so could amble north towards Santiago and then our eventual stop, north west of Santiago, on the coast.
However, it was December. In the UK, December is a time for stressful Christmas planning, illness, grumpiness and more stress. December in Chile turned out to be of little difference.
Lorne was the first to come down with a cold, blocked sinuses, runny nose, cough and feeling generally run down. Then a few days later, I caught it. The kids didn't get it until later, which was some saving grace, but travelling and tiredness do not bode well.
We were lucky that we were at a stage where we could take things slightly easier. Journey times in the car were cut to a maximum of four hours a day, but we still had to jump from destination to destination. Because we had the car, we could travel from small place to small place to keep the stress levels down (large cities and children don't generally mix well together).
But due to illness, other things slipped. Namely our blog! And while writing this, it seems like such a long time ago and difficult to remember!
One stop was in an old 1950's hotel in the mountain. A quiet retreat, with hot thermals in the gardens. I imagined the likes of Marilyn Monroe coming here in the early days, to escape stardom and relax; her little kitten heels echoing off the long, hardwood floorboards, as she made her way to the pools. When I showed photos to my friends though, all they saw was The Shining and wondered if we would come out alive the next day! The front desk was manned by an old guy with a gimpy leg, and other than a couple we saw only at breakfast time, we felt like the only guests there.
Another stop was a quiet, lazy town, with yet another plaza with a beautiful church dominating the centre. We dragged ourselves out for dinner, which was nice, but resulted in Edith and Axel both managing to knock their glasses of water over and nearly short circuiting the Christmas Tree that we were sitting next to.
Concepcion was another University town we stayed in, where we bagged the top floor of a tower block and gave us staggering views across the city, but which also gave us staggering vertigo when we looked down from our balcony. We used our time to visit another art gallery, which also kept us out of the searing heat, and visited a small market, as we tried desperately to find gifts for Lorne's sister and her family who were coming to visit over Christmas.
Christmas had entered our minds and wasn't really going to leave until it was over. The idea of family coming to visit both excited and worried us. We couldn't wait to see them, but thoughts kept turning to questions; will the accommodation be ok? What if the weather is bad? How do we keep them entertained? Why can't we find anything decent to buy them? Will we still be ill when they arrive?
Pretty much standard questions for any family, visiting anyone at Christmas, but still, the worries were there.
The worries heightened when we travelled yet further North to our next destination and saw a town called "Navidad" - Christmas, in Spanish. We should have booked a place there, I shouted!
On our way North, we entered another somber moment. For about 20 minutes, we travelled along a road with forest on either side, though the forest had been devastated by fire. Small patches still smouldered away as we drove along, a couple of small houses were burnt out, this had happened recently. The trees mainly still stood, but from about ten foot high and down, their trunks were singed black. As far as our eyes could see was destruction of a massive kind. It was quiet, eerie, the forest floor cleared of any vegetation.
Pichilemu stood out as a lovely place we visited on the coast. The beach had soft, black sand, the accommodation was quiet with friendly hosts. There was a minimarket across the road, basically a barn crammed full with food, toiletries and other necessities. Space between the aisles was big enough for one person, sideways, but it offered everything we needed, and so convenient for us.
The sand at the beach was too hot to not wear sandals, the kids loved jumping the waves and we started to envision what Christmas would be like. Lorne still warbled on about the amazing food he was going to pull off, but all I could think about was sun, sea, sand and relaxation.
And then suddenly we were in Santiago, 2 hours east of our destination and 3 days until we arrived. We bagged yet another high rise apartment and yet more staggering views of The Andes.
We visited the Museum of Human Rights, and although a bit of a whirlwind tour because of the kids, I came to the conclusion that most people were generally dicks, and we somehow had an inherent desire to torture, kill and exploit other human beings. Being in Chile, the main focus was on General Pinochet, but a floor was dedicated to ALL the other countries in world who had performed terrible atrocities to their own people (I say all, I didn't see the UK, USA or Russia on the wall...). It was truly depressing, and with our current worldwide political climate, didn't fill me with much hope.
The Pinochet floors took us from the coup, right through to him being overthrown. A computer scrolled through name after name after name of people who had just disappeared. Pictures drawn by children of the time were displayed showing people being shot, planes dropping bombs, fathers being taken away. Small documentary films interviewed people who had been arrested and tortured. It appeared to be the university students who took to the streets and began the revolt; making speeches, creating demonstrations, calling for a fair and democratic vote.
And they won. Some people will say, "see, people come through in the end. Good does prevail." Well they shouldn't have to go through it in the first place. My kids draw pictures of butterflies, monsters, cars, families standing together. No child should be drawing the pictures I saw. And no child should be going through the atrocities that are still occurring today.
After my dose of depression, we went across the street to the natural history museum and talked about animals with the kids instead of bad people and the bad things they do. The Museum was situated in a lovely large park, and although small, it was an really interesting museum, taking you through each of Chiles different ecosystems. There was also a museum of science and technology, so we squeezed that one in too, which the kids probably enjoyed the most because of the things they could touch and play about with.
The park also had a small but well equipped theme park in it, which we decided to visit the following day and remind ourselves how lucky we are to be who we are and have some fun. I'm not sure who was more excited, the kids or Lorne. Everyone rose early and chatted animatedly about what rides there might be, and what they would go on first.
We took the metro there, which I have to mention was one of the best and easiest metros I've been on. They weren't stuffy and the map layout was easy to follow. Most carriages had a musician of some sort on them too. Mostly singers and rappers, with their little stereo and microphone plugged in. And some of them were actually quite good.
As we walked through the park to the main entrance, we could hear screams and shouts from inside the theme park and everyone quickened their step. We reached the box office and requested some tickets. We were told "No".
We didn't really understand, what? Why? There's people in there! With a bit of Spanish from myself and a bit of English from the girl at the office, I was able to ascertain that the park was closed for private functions only and wouldn't reopen until December 26th.
We were gutted. We could hear people screaming, see the roller coaster, almost feel the sweat and tears coming off the riders. The kids took it better than I thought. Lorne, not so much.
We were returning to Santiago after Christmas, so I promised them all we would visit then.
With nothing to do, we ventured to the area of Bellavista, a University area with lots of restaurants and small shops. We ate and looked around and generally had a nice time until it was time to go back to the apartment, pack and head off again.
And that was us. Heading to Caleta Horcon for our Christmas and New Year holiday and to wait for Lorne's sister and family to arrive - we couldn't wait!