Stuff I forgot to tell you, in no random order

We went to a winery- Balduzzi Winery, and it was badly damaged, as were so many, in the earthquake. Here are pictures. You can see the metal containers were crunched. See how funny Richard and Tina think they are. This was before they got sick, and they were really having a good time pretending to hold up that damaged tank. That purple junk is what is left over after the machine squeezes the heck out of the grapes. It smelled really strong. We, of course, bought some wine, and some Margie might actually like when she gets here, as it is sweet and clean tasting!

Mi esposo está enfermo

Richard got sick. It's all of our faults, as we egged him on the eat a barnacle. It was a nasty looking little booger, but he was a trooper and ate it, and then he started to, well, let's just way he was NOT WELL. He had 103 temperature and couldn't keep anything down. The doctor at the spa had to come see him 5 times and finally just gave him 2 bags worth of IV fluids and medicine. We decided to stay another day but- DENIED! The stupid hotel was full (which was ever so different because there were not 30 people there the entire time up until this moment). They had some special group coming in. FINALLY, after pleading and begging, the management found a suite for us (1 bedroom and a fold out couch, which doesn't' exactly scream SUITE to me, but it did have a door in between the two rooms). One drawback- ONE BATHROOM! At this point one would think that Murphy's law would be applicable, and things did start to get worse. Guess that barnacle didn't make Richard sick after all because then- Tina got sick. In the middle of the night I heard Tina and the toilet becoming acquainted in not a good way, so there were two down for the count. No sleep for Tina that night, but at least Richard was somewhat better. The next day we had to go, and we GENTLY all piled in the car and made our way back down the mountain and home. It was a very long trip back, but Tina's illness wasn't as severe as Richard's, and we managed to complete the drive without an "accident", if you get my drift....

Snowboard nuts and a blizzard!

Here's a decent picture I got of Chris and Tina going to the lifts. It was from far away, and they look a little blurry, but you guys get the picture.

They both had a great day snowboarding the day after our arrival, but the next day was better. BUT- night of day 2 - BLIZZARD! Now, if you think a Texas person doesn't know a blizzard from a cold hole in the ground, you would be WRONG! I lived in Canada, and I am actually an Honarary Canadian, so I know snow! This was a comin down, folks, and by the next morning we had about a foot of the white stuff stuck to and piled up on everything. Pretty winter wonderland. Tina and Chris snowboarded and went up so high that they looked like little pin heads on a sheet of white.

Nothing to do here but let the pictures tell the story.

Winter wonderland, or what it's like in August on the other end of the world!

Finally we pulled into Termas de Chillan, which is the thermals (or hot springs) of Chillan. WHOA! SPA TIME!!!!! It was a beautiful ride up, and when we got to our rooms, we felt like we were in Heaven. Heaven might have been a little cheaper (they don't actually CHARGE to go to Heaven, I don't think, although I don't know that) but it had to have been as beautiful as the mountains of Termas de Chillan. We stayed at the Grand Hotel, an all-inclusive resort. It was very nice. The views, as you can see, are spectacular, and the weather was good for skiing for a few day.

http://www.termaschillan.cl/en/granhotel.php

They saw us coming....

Chris, Tina, Richard and I all were excited to stop at Rari, a little village in southern Chile, on the way to Chillan. The people here (mostly women) are famous for their horse hair weavings. They must have seen us coming, and they must be laughing all the way to a bank account in Switzerland or the Caribbean, because we bought a BUNCH of this stuff, and it ain't cheap, fellow North Americans. Now, granted, it takes forever to make one of the little creations we bought, but some stupid horse gave up it's tail willingly, I'm sure. (ZERO cash out, to this point in time) The cost in this is the labor, but what else do these women have to do? It's not like they watch soaps and play golf or cards everyday!

We bought stuff from this little lady in the picture, and she was delighted that the gringos came down her dusty little dirt road to purchase. She had learned this skill from her mother, who had probably learned it from her mother, and so on. She was feisty, had hard gnarled little hands and a very weathered face, but she was smiling at us and our pesos, which we gave her most of for the stuff we couldn't live without. STUPID TOURISTS!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rari,_Chile

Pisco Sours- OLE!

If one wants an official UNofficial alcoholic drink of Chile, it is the Pisco Sour. One makes you HAPPY, two makes you HAPPY and compels you to DANCE ON THE TABLE, three just makes you puke.....

If you want to try this drink, I will leave it up to all of you as to which stage you wish to try-

1. Euphoria-

2. Energetic pandemonium

3. Wish-I was-dead-and-and-I-don't- remember-my-name

The drink recipe is:

2 oz pisco brandy1 oz lime juice1/4 oz simple syrup1/2 egg white1 dash Angostura® bitters

I am also giving you all the information about Pisco Sours and Pisco itself, in case any of you are on some game show with strange questions or come across this tidbit in the form of a Trivial Pursuit question in the future. You'll be armed and ready to win! But only if you haven't had one of these before answering!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco_Sour

Earthquake sadness along the way to Chillan

We all piled in the car (I wish I had taken a picture of that) and made it towards Chillan, which is 6 hours south of here so Tina and Chris could ski. Here are some pictures of our trip. The first is a church that only has the front and back left- the middle just fell in as a result of the earthquake. We are traveling much closer to the epicenter of the quake, and this is quite evident by the damage.

We navigated a few detours of damaged and collapsed bridges, and saw evidence of the massive shakes' destruction. After spending the night in Talca, a little town on the way, we passed through another little town and, there, the devastation was heartbreaking. Out of respect for the dead, I did not take pictures.

The adobe facades of little homes may had been impacted, in some instances, but the roofs and side walls were caved in. The bomberos, or firemen, spray painted a huge circle and divided that circle into 4 parts, like a pie, on what was left of the front walls of these homes. In these pie parts there were numbers- mostly zeros, but some had " Uno nino, uno adulto" in the parts. This was where they found bodies, we think. I cannot imagine how horrible it was, and to still have that reminder on the fronts of these broken facades was so sad.