Chile Christmas

My parents came to visit me for Christmas!

The day they arrived, we went into the city and actually saw more of it than I had seen in the year since I arrived. At the Plaza de Armas we met up with my friend Scott, a single guy from the U.S. who's here on his own teaching English, and checked out the Cathedral and the history museum. Then we went to the central Market for an empanada lunch and ended the day at San Cristobal hill where an iconic statue of Mary - "The Virgin" - overlooks the city.

The next day, Pato and Theri took us to San Antonio. We ate in a seafood restaurant on the boardwalk, walked on the beach and visited their summer home.

Then we met up with Scott again and headed south to Chile's Lake district for a week. Along the way, we stopped at Salta de Lajas, Chile's biggest waterfall. Then we continued on to Temuco, where we stayed nights on our trip.

Our first day we drove to Villarrica and Pucón. Both of these tourist destinations are on lake Villarrica and in view of Volcan Villarrica.

The next day we drove to Frutillar, a small german-immigrant town, where we visited an open air history museum.

Then we went to Puerto Varas and shopped at a street fair.

And to end the day we drove all the way down to Puerto Montt where we met a friend of Scott's who invited us back to her home for tea and to meet her newly adopted baby grandson.

On our last day we visited Valdivia and saw the botanical gardens on Isla Teja. And before leaving Temuco, we visited the Pablo Neruda train museum.

After seeing the best the lake district, we returned to Santiago. On Christmas Eve, we took a day trip to Valparaiso. We tried to go out for dinner that night, but almost everything in Santiago was closed. We finally found a Chinese place that was open, and then went back to the guest apartments where my parents were staying to watch It's a Wonderful Life on my laptop.

On Christmas day we went to a missionary Christmas party and then Skyped-called my sister and brother-in-law. That evening we went for a walk and discovered that the municipal plaza was beautifully decorated in lights.

On their last day here, my parents and I went to the Precolumbian Art museum. Then it was time to take them to the airport and say goodbye.

It was great having my parents here, and seeing so much of Chile was fun. But the best part of it was that, for once, I was able to share the experience with people I love.

Merry Christmas everyone.