My visit with Ashley

Ashley is coming to visit. I was soo excited cuz before I didn't have any friends coming down, and I really wanted to show someone around Santiago, plus I always have so much fun with Ashley. We decided to show them around Santiago the first few days, then we were planning on going to the coastal towns Valparaiso and then Viña del Mar. Valparaiso is an old port city where our packages from Chicago arrived by ship. And Viña del Mar is a very modern town with really nice beaches.

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In Santiago we went to places like the Central Market and Santa Lucia. Central Market is a fish market and since I don't really like fish, I don't like going there. It smells really bad, and my salmon had 14 bones in it! At Central Market they have 3 big fountains and Ashley and I were splashing around in it and we got all wet. And Santa Lucia is one of the 2 big hills in Santiago. Ashley and I have decided that when we are older we are going to move to France and rebuild Santa Lucia there and live in it. We also had tea parties on our balcony, first Roxy and Christy served us and then we served them and then we served my mom and Ms. Carole. When we were in Valparaiso we saw one of Pablo Neruda's houses and they liked it a lot so we went to his house that is in Santiago, they liked that one, too. Then one day, we were just sitting around the house so we were looking at our travel books and we decided to go to a palace that was within walking distance. We didn't know it but when we got there, they had a display of armour. It was cewl!

When we were in Valparaiso we went to a really cool hotel! The next day we went to a restaurant that felt just like a boat. I had some really good salmon (salmon is one of the only fish I like). We also went to one of Pablo Neruda's houses (he has three). It was a really cool house, because it was just like a boat, it had the little round windows. And on the top floor there was a bunch of windows that looked out at Valparaiso City. Pablo Neruda once said that during a storm he would go up there and write poems because it felt like the wind was like the waves crashing up on a boat and you felt like you were lost out at sea. He won a Nobel Prize for his poetry.

Then we headed for Viña del Mar, like I said before, there are really nice beaches there, we went to one of them. When we were at the beach Ashley and I splashed around in the water until we were so cold we couldn't feel our toes! Also there is this really cool clock made out of flowers in Viña.

On the way home we saw a lunar eclipse. Then I had to say good-bye to Ashley. :(

for more pictures click below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/smrd51400/AshleyTrip

Our trip to the Desert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey,

I JUST got back from a busy busy busy summer. One of the coolest trips I have ever been on was with mi familia (Nana, cousins Jessie and Lucas, Aunt Sally, and my aunt and mom's friend Jan). I know, a big crowd! And now imagine: all nine of us in an apartment with only three bedrooms and a little futon couch! Yeah, talk about crowded! But, later that week we went with our friend, the "Bird Lady" Paola, and her three friends to a very small (when I say small I mean small) fishing village called Caleta Chañaral that was only a boat-ride away from, shall we say, a "Lively" island!

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We first went to a nice beach town called La Serena. There we stayed two nights, but once going to Chañaral, and once going back. Then, we hit the road again to go see some...animals!

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We, stayed in a cabin close to where Paola and her three friends were staying, but they were camping out. So, you're not allowed to go on the island, but you are allowed to get pretty close to things on it! First, we saw, let me see... more than ten WHALES, and not just their tails but well... them, it was amazing! They were twice as big as our boat! The coolest time was when one of them swam right next to our boat (you can see it in a video!) One even swam under our boat, it was pretty scary in the beginning, but later they're just plain cool.

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I really like dolphins, and always wanted to see them in the ocean. On this trip we got to see two different species of them! I was very happy to see my favorite kind, the bottled-nosed dolphins. They are so friendly, they put on a show, and we got to see one jump up out of the water, and then, we saw one swimming with it's baby! It was so cute!

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We went to the island to see my cousin's favorite kind of animal, the penguin. We saw Humboldt penguins, and we saw a baby one too! They are very cute! We saw so many sometimes it was like you could look anywhere and they would be there. Suddenly, when we turned a corner everyone was looking one way, and we turned our heads back again to see hundreds of sea lions! There were even a bunch of baby sea lions. Here are some pictures:http://picasaweb.google.com/smrd51400/AuntSallyLucasJessieNanaAndJanSTrip

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During the next two days at Chañaral we went to the beach, and other small excursions. We had a lot of fun in this village! Then we got on the road again, and headed back to La Serena. But, since it was so far away we made a few stops on the way.

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Since my Aunt Sally, and Nana (my grandma) were very afraid of going in mist because of their hair, my mom made our first trip to a National Park called Fray Jorge. There you go on a walk through the mist, and see cool plants and stuff that is completely surrounded by desert. Too bad for us, because we didn't really have that much mist to do much damage!

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Then, we went to get something to eat. My dad had already been to the place, and he said it was really good. So, they only serve one type of food, empanada's which is the most common food in Chile. The most typical is a meat filled pastry, but here they are famous for their cheese empanadas. As usual, Dad was right and it was very good. This place started out as a small highway stand and is now a very popular destination for travelers going to Santiago from the north.

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Then, we were back in La Serena. We got there pretty late, and had decided that a few people would go with Paola to an observatory. When they came to get us, we drove up there and saw different stars, like Orion's belt. But the coolest thing we did was, go up to the top of the observatory, and look out a HUGE telescope and see... Saturn! We really saw Saturn! It was awesome, it looked like it was from my science book! Saturn was white and it was glowing, also we could even see its rings. I loved seeing that.

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The next day, we went back to Santiago. And we did some activities! We got back Thursday and went to San Cristóbal (a big hill). Then Friday, my mom, Roxy, and I went to my first concert, La Oreja de Van Gogh (English Translation: Van Gogh's ear)! It was awesome!!! They are a really popular Spanish band.

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On Saturday, we went to a winery by John, Melinda, and Amelie's house. We had a lot of fun there. Later, that night we had a barbecue at our house. There were a lot of people and it was (yet again) very fun!

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On Sunday they had to leave.:( Then, all the adults (except my parents) and Roxy went to a market called Pueblito de Los Dominicos. I don't know what it was like, since I went to the pool with Lucas and Jessie.

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I am back to missing them a lot, but now I will see them in three months!

For video's of the trip click below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/smrd51400/Videos