Santa Cruz, Chile
July 15, 2013 – Today we left Santiago to head down to the Colchugua Valley. It is only about 110 miles but we took a roundabout way on small roads instead of the highway to drive through small towns. It was beautiful countryside with the snow covered peaks of the Andes to the East, vineyards and green valleys all around us.
We travelled through the towns of Melipilla, Pueblo Hundido, Litueche, Peralillo, Palmilla and finally reaching our destination in Santa Cruz. We stopped for lunch in Litueche at the ONLY restaurant available. It was quite amusing communicating our order. There were no menus and our waitress spoke so quickly telling us our choices…even after I told her “Mi espanol no es muy bueno”. We recognized when she mentioned pollo con arroz, so that is what we had. Oh and coca cola too. It was good food.
We ended up lost looking for our hotel because our GPS did not recognize the address for our hotel. And….because I failed to print out maps…. because …hey we were supposed to have GPS… It took us to this scary ass barrio area…so we drove around stressed out for a bit until Wayne stopped at a gas station so I could practice my Spanish and ask for “instrucciones en espanol”. I like to say that I am creating adventure for us…who needs a map?
Our hotel is cute, clean…it is tucked away with vineyards all around us. It has a little balcony and I only saw ONE dog when we arrived. I don’t think barking will be an issue tonight and tomorrow night. And a great thing… the guy at the front desk speaks English! When we first arrived I was speaking in my broken way and he played along…then he started speaking in English and told me I did pretty well…he likes to let us gringos struggle before let’s us know of his bilingual skill.
Tonight we are tired and staying in. We have a big explore day planned for tomorrow so we are going to get some much needed QUIET rest…
Comments
Patty on July 16, 2013
Las Vegas! Dig it! All the way in Chili, who knew. Wait, where are all the flashing lights and hotels. Not quite the same, huh! I guess you won’t be winning any giant jackpots.
Great job on your Espanol skills!! LOL!!
Have a great time — enjoying your blog!!
Love you and be safe.
kim on July 16, 2013
looks so pretty thanks for sharing all the pics!
LaVelle on July 17, 2013
Yikes–I can just see you driving around in some area that doesn’t look so great. Funny how the guy let you practice your Spanish before he spoke English. Looks like a really pretty area–love the mountains.
Enjoy and be safe.
Debbie on July 17, 2013
Just got all caught up on your blog, nice job Shar … I love it and all the comments and photos too! Great idea to blog your adventure as it lets us all somewhat experience it with you guys, well kinda, wish I was actually there as I LOVE these kind of adventures. As for the language barrier, charades are good coupled with your muy poquito espanol, but I find that if you just talk louder, like really louder, they seem to understand better … so try that. Also, with all the dogs, you KNOW Babs would be finding a store to buy a GIANT bag of dog food to feed them all, donde es el katos! Looking forward to hearing more stories and seeing more pics … enjoy and take it all in! Xoxo
Janet Pignuolo on September 12, 2013
Love the car ride throughout the small villages and beautiful mountain range/vineyards in background. I have the travel bug! Might even go back to teaching full time soon, that is a BIG might. You are a great narrator, Shar> I love the occassional swear words.