I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the works!! Steve and I went to our friend Amy’s house for a nice outdoor gathering. It was in the 70s, sunny and breezy- the perfect day. Steve made his wonderful turkey and I made mashed potatoes after going all over town and was unable to find sweet potatoes. There was about 20 of us, and we spent the day in the sun eating, drinking and relaxing. What a great way to start back in Chile!!!
Lucky for me, Steve had a conference in Portugal, and I got to go too. We had a great time. Portugal is beautiful- cobbled streets and beautiful colored tiled houses. We have so many great memories from our time here. We went to Lisbon for about 2 days and Aviero for 5 days. Aviero is this beautiful town about 3 hours by train away from Lisbon. It has manmade waterways throughout the town. I was able to explore it while Steve was at his conference. The conference took everyone on a day trip by boat through the canals and into the sound to an island for a traditional Portuguese barbecue and the beach. We were able to meet everyone else at the conference and just relax. I can go on for ever about what we did, but I’m sure you would rather see some pics!
On our way to Steve’s conference in Portugal, we were able to stop in London for 2 nights and 2 days. We had a fabulous time exploring the city in those 2 days. We stayed right near Paddington Station in this great little funky arty hotel The Pavilion and were able to take the underground everywhere. We saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, St Paul’s, The Tower of London and much more. We were able to meet up with our friend Danielle who was finishing up her master’s in London and went out for a pint. Steve and I also went out for the BEST indian food that we have ever had. It was delicious. Also, we went to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance of The Canterbury Tales, which was tremendous. So good, that I now want to reread the book!! We can’t wait to go back and spend more time in London (and more money!). Here are some pics…
After almost 3 months of traveling, I am finally back in La Serena. I got back Tuesday, and am now ready to start updating the blog, so sit down relax, and enjoy seeing the pics form our 3 month vacation.
We’ve made it from Chile to London and now Portugal. Internet access has been spotty or expensive, so real blog updates will have to wait until we get back to the States. We’re having a wonderful time and can’t wait to share our experiences and photos. Until then…
I’m sorry that I haven’t been blogging lately, but that is about to change. I have come out of my early retirement in honor of Cara’s 28th birthday today!!! I get to see her in 2 weeks, and we’ll celebrate properly then. Happy birthday Cara, I hope you have a great day!!!! I also wanted to let everyone know that we will be leaving for our trip today, and I plan to start updating the blog again. Hopefully the next post will be from London!!!
Happy Birthday Cara!!! Love you and miss you!!!!!
Sorta. Lisa is still to busy to post anything. She’s at the orphanage this afternoon and she has dance class tonight, so I doubt she’ll post anything today. I’m not really doing anything really worth posting about, but the puppy and I take cute pictures.
We haven’t been able to get our pictures working yet, so I apologize for no pic. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and we can’t wait to see you in OCtober! Happy birthday, bro!!!!!!!!
I can’t believe you guys are already 2!!! Sorry to miss another birthday, though I’ll see you both in October!! Sorry I don’t have any pictures to post of you, the only ones I have are from when you were tiny babies!!! Hope you had fun at your party!
The four of us spent last weekend skiing in the Andes. We left Santiago and drove straight up into the mountains surrounding the city. The drive took about an hour and a half on some of the scariest roads. It was full of switch-backs and ice, most vehicles had chains on their wheels for the ascent. ON a side note- on the way done the mountain, there was a horrible looking accident, apparently a jeep had been riding it’s breaks down the mountain, the breaks went out and it went flying over the edge. By the looks of it, we all feared the worst. It was a madhouse getting down the mountain, apparent 5500 cars were trying to, and the emergency vehicles had a hard time getting up the mountain on account of the traffic, but I found out today, that no one was hurt, just some scrapes and bruises. Back to the skiing. We arrived at our hotel Saturday morning, and immediately left for the slopes. Joel spent the day teaching Steve how to snowboard, while Cara and I spent the day skiing together. We were supposed to meet the van to take us back to the hotel at the ski resort below us, so Cara and I skied down, while Steve and Joel had to walk because it was to advanced for Steve. He ended up missing the van and they had to walk 6 kms back to the hotel. When they got back, they found Cara and I relaxing in the hot-tub. I felt so bad for Steve, but the driver wouldn’t go get him and Joel was as usual, super nice and walked with Steve. They did get to enjoy the hot-tub before dinner though. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the lodge, had planned on staying up and drinking some wine and playing cards, but we were all exhausted and fell right to sleep. The next morning after breakfast, though Steve was hurting from his previous day full of falls, he decided to brave it, and try it again. We went back to El Colorado, Steve and I spent the day together, and Cara and Joel spent the day at the top and back of the mountain- to places Steve and I can only visit in pics 🙂 We headed back down to Santiago that night. Check the next update for Santiago fun…
Our Hotel
Where we went to ski
Cara and I ready to go
Steve and Joel ready to hit the slopes
“Whooaaa, out of my way!!!!!”
Joel and Steve shredding the slopes
Pictures from the top
Enjoying some beers and sun and snow
