Visit from Bishops

15 November 2015                                                                Valparaíso, Chile

Dear Dad,                                         

Sorry to miss writing you last week, but we were “on vacation”.  We took a much-needed break to be with Angie and Darin and Gavin (9 yr).  Loved every minute of our time with them.  Here is a brief account of our adventures:

-Sun:  Just after our 10 am Sacrament Meeting we caught a bus to Santiago and met the Bishops at their hotel where they were resting after being “on the road” for 21 hours – including flying to San Francisco to drop off their two youngest, Ellie and Greyson with Brett and Kristi-Lynn.

-Mon:  Took the Metro to city center to see La Moneda, Plaza de Armas, etc.

Found all the museums to be closed on Mondays.  We enjoyed riding the Santiago Metro and used our bip card again.

Darin had previously booked a private, English-speaking tour of the city, including San Cristóbal Hill and parts below.

We found out that Santiago’s “tallest building in South America” has been unoccupied since it was completed 2 or 3 years ago (awaiting street upgrades to accommodate the 3,000 people who are expected to work there…), but it is a very impressive addition to the Sanhattan (Santiago—Manhattan) financial district.

-Tues:  AM bus trip to Valpo – where we were “greeted” with a drawn-out protest by the local fishermen who were marching/blocking the two main streets of town.  That PM spent in Viña del Mar and a bus ride up the coast 6 or 7 miles to Concón. Enjoyed the blue water, white waves and foam from water dashing upon the rocks.  Walked the Viña boardwalk. Home very tired, but happy with the day.

-Wed:  Sights and sounds (and hills) of Valpo.

Two highlights were a tour of Pablo Neruda’s Valpo house, “La Sebastiana” (he was a Chilean who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971).  He furnished it from antique shops and acquisitions from around the world in the 60’s, and it was strange to realize how “old” the 60’s seemed to Carol and me.  Highlight #2 was a “tour” of Valpo history – all set in a restored house built by the guy who later founded Viña.

-Thurs:  AM tours of Cementerio 1 and Playa Ancha to show our work environs.  The Bishops thought the lunchroom looked pretty interesting, but we couldn’t stay for lunch.  Barely had time to see Sea Lion Rock (we actually saw a big one “jump” 4-5 feet and drag itself onto the old concrete pier “rock”.

Then in early PM we put them onto a bus to the airport – headed for four days on Easter Island.  Those guys know how to vacation!

We took a last trip in to Santiago to meet Darin, Angie and Gavin after they returned from Easter Island and toured two museums, ate a typical corn pie and went to a beautiful bldg that now is a fish market and then to see the workshops of artisans at Los Dominicos....