Parade in the Street

This morning we walked out of our apartment to see the military band piling out of their bus on our street. It could only mean one thing- a parade!! Our apartment is 2 blocks from La Mondeda, the Presedential Palace and government building. It is like being in Washington, DC and living 2 blocks from the White House. But apparently here they do a changing of the guard ceremony every other morning, just like London (as our friend aptly put it). Naturally, when there is a parade on your street, you follow along, and this morning was a real treat.


Our street, Zenteno (our apartment is on the left)La Moneda, the Presedental Palace

View of the Andes on our walk to Catolica

Field Trip to the Andes

We took the truck to Cajón del Maipo this weekend, a valley of the Río Volcan. The road heads East towards Argentina, and after turning into a rutted dirt track, abruptly ends in the “town” of Baños Morales which houses the entrance to Monumento Natural El Morado, a small National Park. In the summer you can hike to a lake with views of Glacier San Francisco, but with the danger of avalanches in the winter, you can only get as far as Cerro el Morado, which is a stunning peak, especially covered in snow.

We hiked up the mountain in the snow for about an hour. It was a gorgeous winter day with the sun shining and a cold win- perfect walking conditions. On our way back down Morgan (from Minnesota) taught us proper “penguin sliding” techniques. It involves flopping on your belly and sliding down steep icy hills. Pretty much the best thing ever.

On the drive home we stopped at a little semi-hidden café Monica remembered from when she was here last year. It was like walking into a hobbit hole with small doors and ceilings and little tables. It had incredible hot chocolate and cakes, and Michael ordered 2 desserts and the poor little old lady who brought us our food nearly died from surprise and delight.