Liandro and his family flew to Manus (it is on my list of places to explore one day) to visit their families for Christmas, and they were gracious enough to bring back fish from the Amazon to share with us. He brought it back in his suitcase. Haha! I know people do this all the time, especially frozen fish from Alaska, but it just cracked me up thinking about the fish sitting in his suitcase.
This particular river fish, is called Tambaqui. It is about R$100 in the Amazon but here it costs over R$300 so it’s not something we eat here. Look at Mason’s face. He is like, “Whoa!”
It was actually really good. Tuck even ate it. It is common in the Amazonia region to eat the head. Liandro says all the kids scramble to get to eat it first. I told him Americans don’t usually eat the head but I gave it a whirl. It wasn’t bad but it had a mushier texture than the rest of the fish that I didn’t love, but, hey, I tried it. Surprisingly Mason didn’t try it but I think that was because there wasn’t much to try. I made Brazilian vinaigrette (which is tomatoes, onions, cilantro, green onion, red wine vinegar, and olive oil), Ellis made rice, Sarah brought drinks, and Chris brought over some farinha de mandioca (which is like hard ground up cassava bits- that’s the yellow stuff in the jar by the fish) and she made a frozen dessert made of cupuaçu (a fruit found in the Amazon) and chocolate. Chris and Liandro said this would be a typical Sunday lunch where they’re from.
After company left, we finished all our packing and went to bed, as Liandro was picking us up at 4:30 the next morning to take us to the airport. We were so excited about visiting another country. Ellis was supposed to go with us but her mother had been in the hospital almost all break. My heart aches for her and her mother. Ellis is praying for God’s will and that somehow this all might lead her brother to the Lord. Only time will tell.
Well, we made it, and by boarding time, we were all awake with smiles.
Just a little FYI, Latam flight to Chile (about 4 hours) does not have onboard entertainment. WI-FI, yes, for your own device, but no screens on the plane. We were left to entertain ourselves. Trev watched some movies on his phone but I couldn’t get mine to connect, so me and the boys tried to nap.
One tip to note, upon arriving at the airport in Chile you are required to fill out a form. This form uses a QR code on a poster affixed to the wall. You will see the gathering of people around it and you would be tempted to go around them while they read some random looking sign. Don’t do that. You can be fined if you don’t fill out this form. We almost did that, but a sweet traveler stopped us and relied the importance of the form. They tell you about the form on the plane but I wasn’t sure when or how to get the form. This was the only place I saw to get the QR code too. So be on the look out.
Just look at those snow capped Andes Mountains.
Chile has a public bus transportation system and taxis, but you know us, we like to drive. We rented a car from Hertz. We love our American freedom to come and go as we please. Unlike some of the other car rental places that have a desk inside the airport, you meet your Hertz rep outside Door 2 (right past all the other car rentals) and they pick you up and take you to their offsite lot. It was a very convenient and easy process.
With keys in hand and Trev behind the wheel, we headed to our Airbnb we rented. Our airbnb was actually two apartments; one on the 6th floor that sleeps four and one on the 17th floor that sleeps three. In the picture it looks like a mattress on the floor because it’s a trundle bed. The keypad locks are time sensitive so your code doesn’t work until your scheduled check in time, which for us was 3pm. We arrived at 2:50pm so we had to wait a few minutes. The apartments were small but very clean and well appointed. Communication with the owner was super easy. I would highly recommend. Trev can share with you the room details if you are interested.
Next item of business was food. Everyone was hungry. We found a Chilean or Peruvian restaurant (not sure which as lots of the restaurants are Peruvian) called El Super Gordo and walked. Trevor and Mason shared the ceviche mixto (fish, squid, shrimp), Tuck and I shared the baked chicken, Emily had the beef chorrilho, and Sarah order some beef dish, I don’t remember the exact dish. The food was good and our waiter spoke some English.
When we went to pay for dinner. Our card wouldn’t work. We tried a couple. It kept asking for a PIN number like a debit card even though it was credit. We were a little nervous that our card wasn’t going to work in Chile for some reason. We did not have any Chilean pesos either. Emily paid to avoid us washing dishes. Ha.
A little side note here, we have been using our American Express card almost exclusively in Brazil. It has been easy to use with a couple of exceptions at the Graals (the big roadside restuarant/gas station stops). And there we can use it but they have to use a different card swiper. Not sure why but once they get the other card reader, it works, no problem. Later we would run into this issue again but it would only be with the orange card readers. If the card reader was red or blue, it would accept our card like normal but if it was orange it was a no go. Just a little tidbit for you if you decide to travel to Chile.
A few other things to note when traveling to Chile. The city is cleaner and nicer when compared to similar big cities like São Paulo. But the cost of living is also higher too. That being said, things in Chile are more expensive than in Brazil. It was more like American prices. The exchange rate is about 1000 chilean pesos to $1 so conversion was easy jut drop the three zeros at the end and there’s your American cost. If you want to travel to a South American country but still have the comforts of the US, I would recommend Chile. They were a lot more like US than Brazil is in terms of stuff .
I mean look at the chip aisle alone in this supermarket called Jumbo in Chile. Nothing but chips and more American sized bags than we have in Brazil. You will never find this many different chips in Brazil. And the crown jewel of this grocery haul…..yep, after 10 months without it, I found Dr. Pepper. I almost moved to Chile right then and there. We didn’t cook while we were in Chile, we just needed snacks for the beach. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Like many Latin and South American countries, there is plenty of street art and graffiti. Along with an eclectic mix of architecture and lots of ornate catholic churches.
Chile also has more red lights than Brazil. Driving in Chilean traffic is WAY calmer than Brazil. Brazil traffic scares me but Chile traffic didn’t bother me at all.
Most things don’t open until around 10am. Many stores are closed on Mondays and don’t even think about doing a whole lot on Sundays, other than the local farmer’s market and gas. Many stores had their gates locked; even the parking decks were closed.
The next day we decided to walk around the city to get our bearings. Our apartment was a short 15 minute walk to the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza de La Constitución so we walked a lot.
We stopped for breakfast at a little place along our way. The lady was really sweet but things got lost in translation and our order was well, close enough. Tucker felt like a big shot since Trevor let him order coffee all week long.
Emily knows some Spanish so she was our translator. She did a great job throughout the trip. We would have been grunting and pointing a lot without her. Not sure why, but I’ve had many Brazilians tell me that they can understand Spanish better than those speaking Spanish can understand Portuguese. As Portuguese speakers, her and Sarah could communicate fairly decently.
On our way to the Plaza de La Constitción, we happened upon this pretty building, Palácio Pereira, and decided to go in. We were only allowed on the first floor, which served as a kind of museum. Everything was in Spanish with no English translation so we just admired the exhibits and left. It was free so why not.
Next up was the Presidential Palace for the changing of the guard ceremony. All the videos I watched said that the ceremony was worth seeing. Want to know why you are only seeing a picture of the palace and not the ceremony?
Well, the videos said it was held everyday at 12pm but after a conversation that involved my miming and neighing like a horse, the nice officer translated on his phone that the ceremony is only every other day during the week at 10am and at 11am on weekends. We were there at 11:30. Uuugggh. Oh well, that just meant we would come back on Wednesday at 10, No biggie.
I didn’t have breakfast at the restaurant so I was ready for a little snack so we popped in to a little mall next to the Palace to try a food item many vloggers mentioned, the completo. They all mentioned going to Antigua Fuente, which is an old restaurant where they cook all the food in an open kitchen, but you can get completos everywhere. So the Italian completo is a hotdog with avocado, tomatoes, and a ton of mayo (I can see my mother-in-law gagging right now as she hates mayo). I was pretty skeptical too. That was a lot of mayo but I tried it. It worked. Kind of how I was nervous about the mashed potatoes on the Brazilian hot dog. It just works. Not everyone tried it. Not everyone loved it. I didn’t love it but I had no problem eating it. Emily and Sarah was super stoked when I told them there was a Dunkin Donuts. After mayo and sugar, we did a little shopping. Tuck got him a keychain and Emily found an Edgar Allen Poe book in Spanish that was one of his novels that occurred in Chile. How cool is that? We think her dad has the same leather bound Poe collection book that my mom has. Small world. Mason was on the lookout for The Hobbit in Spanish. In the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is writing a book called There and Back Again; a Hobbit’s tale, which chronicles Bilbo’s travels, which is a reference to the actual story Tolkien wrote. Or something close to that, which is pretty cool, so he wants to get the Hobbit from each country he visits now. He found the book there but it was annotated and he just wanted the regular book. He would later find that book in Antarctic bookstore, that has a wonderful staff and if you’re a book lover and know Spanish, I would highly recommend this store.
Another little travel nugget, use the bathroom when you buy food. There aren’t many public restrooms and often they are not free. Check the wall as you come in, as oftentimes the toilet paper is on the wall when you enter and not in your individual stall.
It’s about a 10 minute walk from the Palace to the Plaza de Armas. This is a big tourist stop so just watch your stuff. The plaza is nice and open with trees and benches in the middle.
The Plaza is flanked by stores, National History Museum (which is closed on Mondays, just FYI), post office, tourist office, and the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The cathedral was beautiful. The Metropolitan Cathedral has been in that location since the 1500s. The current building is the fifth structure on that site and dates back to the mid 1700s. Chile is home to many earthquakes.
The organ was enormous, though you can’t really tell from the picture but trust me, it was large.
Though I’m not catholic, I am amazed at the architecture, frescos, and statues.
The plaza is also home of the icon Santiago sign. I don’t know if it’s truly iconic, but y’all know what a sucker I am for these signs.
There are statues everywhere. Tuck is in front of the statue of Don Pedro de Valdivia, who was the founding father of Chile.
Our next stop was the Central Market. Not all the stores took credit cards, just so you know. Most, but not all.
The metal from the market was shipped from Great Britain and was the same metal used on the Eiffel Tower. Cool.
When I saw these crabs in the case, I knew it was time for lunch. El Galeón was a treat. Crab legs are my favorite. You pick the size of the crab you want depending on the number of people eating it. Each person gets a pisco sour, we opted for the kids mashed melon instead, a strawberry juice, fries, peas and carrots, rice, and white bread with a warn red sauce. A staff member comes to your table and cracks the crab for you. It felt so fancy.
Afterwards we headed to La Vega Central, another market, as Emily loves the food and craft markets. To get to this market you have to cross over into the other side of town. Let’s just say, I wouldn’t go here without Trevor. This side of town is trashier and stinkier. Just calling it like I see it. It was also after 4:30pm and many of the vendors were already closing up. So we took that as a sign to head home. Along the way back, we did find this cake store that displayed these amazing cakes so we popped in for dessert.
Another interesting note about Chile is that they adopt an earlier time zone so, although we went 4 hours straight west from Brazil, we stayed in the same time zone. The reason this matters is that sunrises around 7am and sets close to 9pm. That’s a lot of daylight for people who like to go to bed early and like it dark when they lay their head down on the pillow. No such luck. It was so bright it was hard to go to bed before 10pm or 11pm. Plus, we had flood lights from the building across the street that stayed on ALL night long. Numerous nights I would wake up at 2 or so thinking it was morning due to the bright light glowing from around our window shades.
I’ll catch y’all on Part 2. Tchau.
NoHurryCains 
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