On the road again! (sort of)

Sunday meant that we were on the road again but only a short hop to Vina Del Mar and a new hotel. Most graciously Inez picked us and our luggage up and continued the tour of Valparaiso.. We climbed high into the hills and toured the home of Chilean hero Pablo Naruda. A remarkable 4 story home of small rooms, and hallways but always with a spectacular view of the ocean and city.



Sunday in Valpariaso also seems to be family day and the boys were in the park playing cards. It seemed to be mostly older men playing.



There is a rock band playing on the left of the statue while boys are preparing their kites to the right. Kites seem to be very popular here, especially along the beach front.



Along the edge of the park is a monster flee market. It seemed to be mostly books, old telephones, some old furniture (hand made and re-finished antiques). Really quite typical of what you might find at home. . . .some good stuff . . . but mucho of junk.



This is the Rondo Hotel in Vina (Charlene and Ines in front). The owner speaks English quite well and this is what we will call home for the next few days while we feel our way forward.




Erica's mother, Ilda, ??, and Mary.



It's now Monday (We apologize for some confusing date lines and confusing use of past and present tense in the blogs)

The day started with no particular plan other that to:
1) Deal with some laundry. . . (That meant carrying three bags of dirt clothes around town only to return and have the hotel take care of it!)

2) Find a bank and replenish our wallets. (That meant going to an ATM and being denied access to our accounts. Trust me, this is not a good feeling! Our debit card wouldn't work at a restaurant yesterday and I was starting to think that there were issues at the bank.) Anyway, the bank down the street worked (whew) so we will just have to become a little more educated about which ATMs work and which ones don't.

Speaking of money, some are wondering about the cost of things in Chile. Nothing is cheap! (except the wine! And perhaps taxis) Generally things are about 10 - 15% less than we would pay at home.

The rest of the day was spent wondering the streets, checking in to possible apartments to rent, looking for food and discussing the future, both short and long term. Both of us have moments and / or days when the dream seems out of reach. Fortunately, it's usually only one of us at a time.

Anyway, we've been sitting at the computer now for over two hours getting caught up on phone calls and the blog so it's time to pack it in for the night. We love to see your emails so don't be shy.

Love N & C