Wednesday--February 16--tour with locals

Wednesday--February 16--it’s a small world after all

Today was a great day.  Almost better than the day, is the story behind how the day even happened.  

First I will say this:  People make the world go round, networking is great and persistence is the key to success.

Not long before I left Santa Barbara I ran into a friend (Bobbi) who told me her sister (Phyllis) had a Chilean connection and gave me Phyllis’s phone number.  I had it in the back of my mind to call Phyllis but as things happen I left town and didn’t do it.  Fast forward to somewhere in Turkey when I thought I should contact Phyllis and try to connect with this person or people she knew in Chile.  Of course I didn’t have Phyllis’s e-mail so I contacted my friend Jacque and asked her to contact Bobbi to get Phyllis’s e-mail.  It takes a village.  Go with me here.  The next day I received Phyllis’s e-mail and sent her a message telling her I was traveling  to Santiago and was she still in contact with the people who lived there.

Phyllis responded the next day, gave me the e-mail for Valeria and told me what a wonderful person she was.  So, on Jan. 19 I e-mailed Valeria and explained who I was and that I would be visiting Santiago and Valparaiso in a few weeks and would like to meet her if she was available.  Many weeks went by and I didn’t hear from Valeria but I just put it out of my mind.  

On February 5, I received a message from Valeria apologizing for taking so long in responding to my message but she had been on vacation and she would love to meet any friend of her dear friend Phyllis.  She said she would be home during the time I would be in the area, gave me her phone number and told me that she lived in a beach town close to Valparaiso and I should let her know when I arrive.  We exchanged many e-mails back and forth when I was in Greece but didn’t make an exact plan.  

When I arrived in Valparaiso on Sunday I called Valeria but I was unable to get my phone to connect with hers.  I sent her an e-mail telling her I would be in Valparaiso for a few days and that I’d tried calling her but was unable to connect.    

Tuesday afternoon I got an e-mail from Valeria telling me she doesn’t check her e-mails everyday and that the next day (Wednesday) was a good one for her to meet and wanted to know if I could come to her home for lunch.  Her e-mail was very sweet and she said she would pick me up from the metro station in Vina Del Mar (they actually live in the next town north of Vina called Renaca) we would have lunch at their house and she and her husband Hugo would drive me around after lunch to show me the area. How could I say No to such an invitation.  I told Valeria I was very happy to accept her kind invitation.  

She told me which metro station to go to and described what she looked like so I might recognize her.  She also asked me to give her some way to recognize me.  This was funny.  

Valeria asked me to arrive at 1:30 and I got to the station around 1:20.  While I was standing on the street in front of the metro station my phone rang and I thought it might be Valeria but it was Emily.  I told Emily that I might need to hang up quickly as I was meeting Valeria.  I stood talking on the phone looking around for someone looking for me.  Valeria recognized me right away.  

We gave each other a warm welcome as though we had known each other for a long time. After all our e-mails I think we were both happy that our meeting actually happened.

Valeria had to park her car several blocks away and as we walked to the car she explained things we were passing and a bit of history about Vina Del Mar.  She was born in Vina Del Mar and her husband Hugo was born in Valparaiso.  Real locals.  

In the car driving to their incredibly beautiful beach front home, she told me she lived in Santa Barbara for a year, six years ago and that’s how she met Phyllis.  I asked why they went to Santa Barbara and she told me that her husband, Hugo (who is a lawyer) wanted to improve his English.  

“Where did he do that”, I asked.

“He went to Aspect”, she said.

My mouth nearly feel out of my head.  

“That is where I work”, I told her.

“Oh we need to save this story until we get home to tell Hugo”, she said.

When I met Hugo we laughed about the strange coincidence of his having attended Aspect and my working there.  He asked if Tyler (the director) was still there and I told him yes.  I also explained that Aspect was bought by Kaplan and that now the school was known as Kaplan International.  This was too bizarre.

Valeria and Hugo were extremely welcoming anyway because of my introduction by Phyllis but now with the Kaplan connection we were like family.  

I was having some trouble making arrangements for a hotel in Torre del Paine (the park in Patagonia) and felt comfortable enough to ask Valeria help me call the hotel and try to make an arrangement.  I had been e-mailing this hotel asking if I could stay “ala carte” because they were pushing the “all inclusive” which was not only expensive but they wanted another $600 for a single supplement.  She phoned them and told them I didn’t want to pay the extra “single” supplement.  The woman said she would talk with her manager and get back to me with a proposal.  

(Later in the day I got an e-mail with a 20% discount off the all inclusive rate).  I was so glad to have this help.

  

We had so much fun talking about Santa Barbara and their experience living there.  They told me that Tyler, his wife and child had visited them in Chile when they were living in a different house.  I told them I couldn’t wait to send Tyler an e-mail to tell him about our meeting.

Valeria's living room

We had a wonderful traditional Chilean soup for lunch (can’t remember the name of it) and their 12 year old son, Hugo Junior joined us. He was very charming with impeccable manners.  They also have a 17 year old daughter who was in Europe traveling with her cousins so I wasn’t able to meet her.  They have a lovely home in a building that is across the street from the beach so the view is amazing, not only of the beach but you can see all the way to Valparaiso.  

The view from their balcony

When I first arrived the sun wasn’t out so there weren’t many people on the beach, but after an hour the sun came out and there were more people but still not too crowded.   Valeria explained that when the sun isn’t out in the morning people make other plans for the day and that was why the beach wasn’t packed, also it was Wednesday.  She told me on the weekends everyone from Santiago comes to the beach and you can hardly find a speck of sand to be on. 

view looking south from Con Con

  

After lunch they took me for a drive through the town of Renaca and up the coast to the next town of Con Con.  There is only one road between Valparaiso and all the beaches to the north.  I asked what the traffic was like on the weekends.  They told me you could barely drive and they only walked.

Altogether it is like going from Carpinteria to Goleta without the freeway.  

They showed me a neighborhood that had extremely modern homes.  I asked how much one of the homes costs, just to get an idea.  They said a 3 or 4 bedroom home might cost around $300,000.  O.k. I could live here.  I totally understood why they enjoyed Santa Barbara so much.  The casualness is very similar.

Then we drove back to Valparaiso and they showed me parts of the town I hadn’t been yet.  Valparaiso was the most important port in Chile before the Panama Canal was opened.  It is still used but not as important.

In Valparaiso view looking toward Vina Del Mar

Hugo showed me where he went to elementary and high school and where he’d lived during his 20’s.  Valeria showed me where she had gone to University.

I appreciated them driving me around and giving me a “local’s view”.  I was still glad I stayed in Valparaiso over Vina Del Mar.

I could hardly believe the time when they dropped me off at the hotel, nearly 7:30.  We had such fun.  They told me they were planning to visit Santa Barbara in May and I told them I would let Phyllis and Tyler know of their visit and we would have a party for them.   They were very insistent that if I had any problems during my travels to call them.  It was nice to know I had a lifeline.

I was tired but I was hungry and around 8:30 (totally normal time for dinner here) decided to try the Thai restaurant, Samsara again.  Yeah, they were open.  

When I walked in to look at the menu, the woman explained that the price of an entree included a salad and dessert as well.  I had an incredible rock fish with a Thai tomato sauce and the salad had a great dressing.  I could barely move I was so fulI from the incredible meal but had to try the dessert.  I had a brownie with coconut ice cream. 

I asked the chef, also the owner, if I could take his photo while he was cooking.  He agreed.  The meal was a bit expensive but so worth it.  All the meals I’ve had in Valparaiso have been fantastic.  

I was a happy camper from a wonderful day and great meal.