In Conclusion. . .

We went to the market in Santiago the day before we left to get a few more gifts and things.

These sweet ladies were more than patient as took forever to choose what candy to get. They kept trying to give us change as if we were finished. Not a chance!

The crab claws. I think they are called stone crabs, and they are much different than our Dungeness crabs. I cracked some first because i've never seen raw pieces of crab for sale before. If I'd known I was going to have to cook at the party hostel I might have thought twice about getting them since they don't have lots of cooking equipment really. I had to crack the very thick shells with a soup ladle and I'm pretty sure hardly anyone minded all the noise.

 

Quail eggs!

Amazing huge roots above ground. Almost like built in seating.

The beginning of the funicular at Cerro San Cristobel. It was a lovely ride until it got to nosebleed height, if you have any fear of height issues. "Breathe! It's been here for 100 years..." and other helpful things were said, but ultimately it was getting off the funicular that solved the problem. Look at the next picture if you think I'm over reacting.

See? And remember, this started off at street level!

Back at the bottom they had two of the cutest llamas with hats on, giving rides to children for photo ops. We fell in love!

Oddly enough they had a comfort station right there on the sidewalk. It would have been a shame to pass it by...

We loved the Chilean flag on the balcony. Viva Chile!

They even have the full moon there and Jaime documented it. Honestly, it was spectacular.

A little bear for baby John Junior, only it wouldn't fit on the plane.

A two story, beautiful Merry Go Round--in the shopping mall above the central bus station.

That's it. It was a fantastic trip with so many surprises and learning curves. I love the language and want to learn much more. Strangely, the two most fluent speakers sounded Scandinavian and I was shocked to find out they were Chilean. I don't know if that means the Spanish is that different or what, but it was interesting.

The country is gorgeous, the people are very kind and I'd rather visit during another season when it isn't as cold inside as out and nobody but me seems to notice.

This was such an amazing opportunity and we are so glad to have been able to go. Thank you all for keeping up with the blog and commenting! :)