It's also hard to believe that I'm entering the final stretch of my time in Chile, and that this will be one of my last updates about living here. So I've been making the most of these last months and weeks by doing and seeing as much as I can before I go back to Europe. There's a list pinned to our wall that I made in December or January of all the things to do before I leave - so far, we've ticked off quite a good amount of items, but there are still plenty left!
So in this blogpost, I'll be writing about the fun places we've been so far, and I'll also talk about my Christmas in Chile (it seems like a while ago now!), our future travel plans, and some other news I have.
Be prepared - it's going to be a long one!
Adventures in and Around Santiago
Piscina Tupahue and Jardín Mapulemu
Claudio and I started off December by visiting this huge swimming pool located in Parque Metropolitano. It's so big that we had plenty of room to swim, despite the fact that there were a lot of people! It was brilliant to spend some time in the pool and some time sunbathing on the surrounding grass enjoying the great views of the city and the mountains.
After our trip to the pool, we had a little walk around Jardín Mapulemu, a nearby garden in the park, which has plants from both the north and south of Chile.
Our Swimming Pool!
One of the nice things about living in Chile is that most of the newer apartment buildings have their own swimming pools! Since ours opened in December, we've been spending time there most weekends, and I've occasionally gone on weekday mornings when I haven't had lessons to teach. In our building, you can book the pool in blocks of two hours, and there's a limit of 12 people per block. However, we've found that when we book the 9am-11am slot, we always have the pool to ourselves!
I really enjoy alternating my time there between swimming in the pool and reading on a sunlounger - it kind of takes me back to family holidays in the Mediterranean I had when I was younger, where we would spend entire days next to the beach and the swimming pool. It's really nice to have that feeling of being on holiday for a couple of hours each week!
Plataforma 516
Who knew that there was a Harry Potter-inspired café here in Santiago? I didn't - at least not until January this year. But once I found out about Plataforma 516, I knew we had to go as soon as possible! The Harry Potter books are my favourite series of books, so I was really excited to immerse myself in the magical world created by JK Rowling.
And it was certainly an immersive experience! The café leans into its theme even more than I expected; in addition to its décor featuring characters and places from the books, you can also order steaming "potions", and even dress up as Hogwarts students!
Going there was so much fun, and I'd highly recommend it to any Harry Potter fan visiting the city!
Museo Jedimar
As Claudio is a big car expert and fan, it was clear that we had to visit Museo Jedimar, Santiago's car museum. This museum houses the car collection of Jesús Diez Martínez (Jedimar) who was the founder of the coach company Tur Bus. There are many cars here from all over the world and from different decades, including an 80s Ferrari, which was definitely the standout!
Balneario El Trapiche
This park is located in the Talagante province, in the countryside just outside of Santiago. It's a really nice place to escape from the city and spend some time in nature. Here you can paddle or kayak in the river, and there are other things to enjoy around the park, including food trucks, an amphitheatre, and a beautiful lagoon surrounded by mountains. We particularly liked the Mapuche ceremonial centre, which has lots of animals, including ponies, alpacas and chickens. The ponies were really friendly!
Paseo La Villa
Near the skyscrapers of Sanhattan, you can find Paseo La Villa, which looks like a recreation of a traditional German village! This is only a small area, but it's well worth checking out.
Tetería Cleopatra
This is the third cat café we've been to here in Santiago (I think that means we've now been to all of them actually!). And this one has the advantage of being located in possibly my favourite street in the entire city: Pasaje Adriana Cousiño in Barrio Yungay. This street always makes me think of pictures and videos I've seen of colourful buildings in Cuba and Puerto Rico, so going there feels a bit like having a Caribbean holiday!
And the café itself is a lovely place to spend an hour or two. Not only does it have an amazing selection of teas, but of course it also has lots of beautiful cats to admire!
Zip-lining in Cajón del Maipo!
In February, we went ziplining in Cajón del Maipo. This was definitely one of the most adventurous things I've done during my time in Chile, and in my whole life, to be honest! We went to an activity centre called Cascada de Las Ánimas (Waterfall of the Spirits) - a very magical-sounding name! Many activities are offered here, including rafting, kayaking and canopy, so I'd definitely come back again in the future.
Zip-lining is something neither of us had ever done before in our lives, and I must admit we were a bit intimidated when we saw the lines - they are suspended 25 metres above the Maipo river! But we knew we had to just go for it and have as much fun as possible.
The way the activity worked meant that we actually did two zip-lines: one to cross the river and one to come back to where we started. This was great, because although we had some nerves going across the first one (it was so fast and so high!), we could enjoy the experience completely during the second one. The views of the river and surrounding nature were incredible, and it was such an exciting thing to do! We'll definitely do it again sometime!
This is quite a similar park to Balneario El Trapiche, with a lagoon, kayaking, and farm animals. It's located in Puente Alto, which is considered to be quite a rough area of Santiago, but the park itself is a really pretty and tranquil place. There was a long waiting list for the kayaking, so we had to give that a miss this time, but we enjoyed walking around the lagoon and saying hello to the friendly goats!
The Berlin Wall - in Santiago!
Recently, Claudio and I went to the German embassy here in Santiago, where you can find a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall! Obviously it's not an attraction that takes a lot of time to see, but it's still a fun thing to go and check out!
I passed through this square when walking recently and had to take a couple of pics. It looks like a paradise island, but instead of being located in the sea, it's located in the middle of a busy traffic intersection!
Museo Palacio Cousiño
This 19th century palace is a really interesting place to visit. We went there the Saturday before last for a guided tour, where we learnt about the history of the Cousiño Goyonechea family, who lived there when it was built. Many of the rooms have been preserved as they were in the past, and it reminded me a lot of trips to National Trust properties in England, even though most of the furniture and décor there comes from France and Italy. It was nice to have the experience of looking around a historic house for the first time in quite a while!
Rancagua
Rancagua is the next "major" city down from Santiago and is the capital of the O'Higgins region. It is not particularly big and doesn't have any major touristic sites, but we decided to take a day trip there the weekend before last just so I could see what it's like.
Even though I hadn't been there before, Rancagua had a bit of a negative association for me because of things that happened during my semester in Chile, before I met Claudio. Of course that's all water under the bridge now, but it was good to visit the city for myself and form a new opinion of it.
To be honest, it's not the most exciting place to visit! The best part was definitely Plaza de los Héroes where you can find the city's cathedral. A famous battle during the War of Independence actually took place right in this square.
There are also some nice historic buildings to see along Calle Estado, which passes through Plaza de Los Héroes. However, the majority of the city looks quite run-down (as do many areas of Santiago, to be fair).
After visiting the city centre, we went to Parque Cataluña, also known as Parque Comunal. The only work by Gaudí outside of Spain is set to be built here, but the building process is still yet to begin! The park overall is looking a little shabby, and could do with some tidying up. But who knows, maybe if they eventually get round to building this work by Gaudí, it could be a top tourist destination in a few decades time...
Finally we went to see Estadio El Teniente, a football stadium which has previously hosted Copa América.
Lantern Festival
This summer, a Chinese lantern festival has been taking place in Parque de la Familia, and last Monday we took advantage of a 2 for 1 offer and went to see the display for ourselves. Although the food and drink there was lethally expensive, and some of the pathways were packed with people taking endless selfies, it was still quite a magical experience - I felt transported into the version of China I've seen in films like "Mulan". There were also live musicians playing Chinese music and artists performing as lions (I think!), which really added to the atmosphere.
Exposición "Salvemos nuestras especies"
Last weekend we went to see this exhibition in Parque Juan Pablo II (next to Parque Araucano). It features four huge sculptures of endangered Chilean species made entirely out of recycled material, in order to highlight the issue of climate change and its effect on animals. The sculptures are beautiful to see, and their message is so important.
Christmas in Chile!
Christmas 2022 was the first time I celebrated a Christmas away from England, and it was especially different, thanks to the weather here! It was weird but also fun to have a hot, sunny Christmas. However, even though I prefer hot weather overall, I have to admit I missed the wintry magic of the European Christmas celebrations - maybe because this kind of celebration makes getting through the colder months a bit easier, and we don't really need something like this in summer. (To be honest, I found that winter here in Chile was definitely lacking something like Christmas!)
But we had a really nice time celebrating with Claudio's family - starting with a meal in the late evening of Christmas Eve, followed by opening presents at midnight, and then having a Zoom call with my family on Christmas Day. It was fun to have a different Christmas experience, and I'm sure that I'll have other Christmases here in the future!
Travel Plans
I'm very excited that we're going to be spending a few days in the south of Chile next month! We've decided to base our trip around the city of Puerto Varas, and we plan to visit Chiloé Island, Petrohué Waterfalls, and as many other places as we can pack in.
Actually Claudio's parents and brothers went to the same area last year, but Claudio stayed behind with Jack the beagle, as he was waiting for me to arrive in Chile. Unfortunately, due to delays with my visa, I had to delay my arrival by a fortnight, so he actually could have gone after all! But it's great that we're able to go together now, and we've got some useful tips from his family about places to visit.
I feel like I really haven't spent much time in the south of Chile compared to the north, and I'm looking forward to getting to know it some more before I return to Europe, especially as it's such a beautiful part of the world. Places in the far south like Torres del Paine will have to be put on hold until future trips to Chile, as it is an extremely expensive area to travel to and stay in, and to be honest, although it was one of the places at the top of my bucket list this time last year, I think our weekend in Parque Nacional Conguillío changed my mind a little bit about trips that involve long hikes, "roughing it" and extreme cold! Of course Torres del Paine is an extremely popular destination on social media and in travel guides, so maybe I was a little bit "influenced" by its popularity, but the truth is that this is a destination famous for its hiking and camping, whereas neither Claudio or I are big fans of those particular activities!
But Chiloé and the Chilean Lake District is an area that is not only full of incredible nature, but also interesting architecture, history and culture, so it appeals to me a lot as a destination. I can't wait to explore it soon!
Important News!
My Next Job
After applying for countless jobs both in Chile and Europe, I've finally had success. In two months' time, I'm going to be starting a digital marketing internship in Malta!
This feels like a really important step in my career journey, and it's been a long process to get to this stage. I decided last May that I wanted to move on from teaching and move towards another sector, and I always had marketing in mind as my top option. Since then, I've completed courses in digital marketing, social media for business, and Microsoft Excel, in addition to applying for many jobs. However, my three years of experience teaching English as a foreign language don't seem to count for much in the current climate of job searching, so it became clear eventually that I needed to gain some more relevant experience.
Then in February, I discovered this opportunity to do a government-funded digital marketing internship abroad. There were various destinations to choose from, including Malta, a country where my mum spent some very happy childhood years, and a place I've always wanted to visit. I decided to apply, and I recently found out I've been accepted!
This is going to be a golden opportunity to learn lots more about the sector while on the job, and it should also be a great stepping stone to a future career in the industry, so I'm really happy about it and looking forward to getting started.
Our Civil Union
The other important news I have is that Claudio and I will soon be having a civil union ceremony! This will mean that legally we will be the equivalent of married, but not technically married.
We're partly doing this for legal reasons; it's a goal of ours to settle in Europe (probably in the EU) within the next 12 months, but neither of us are currently EU citizens. However, if things go to plan, Claudio will soon have Italian nationality, and I will be able to apply too, once we've been in a civil union/married for 3 years. And although I'm also trying to get Irish nationality myself, it seems that Ireland has stricter and more confusing requirements than Italy does, so it's good that I know I'll be able to regain my EU citizenship eventually, even if it's in 3 years' time.
The other reason we're having a civil union is because we've reached the stage in our relationship where we know we want to be married, but at the moment it's financially and logistically difficult for us to have the kind of proposal and wedding we want. So having a civil union will allow us to make a legal commitment to each other and to have the same rights as a married couple, until we're in the position where we can get married. We would like to eventually splash out a little bit on a really nice wedding, probably in the UK or Italy, and hopefully within the next couple of years.
As for our civil union, it's going to be a low-key ceremony in our local registry office with just Claudio's parents and brothers there and my family on Zoom. We're going to follow that with some photos in a nice place or two nearby, and then a meal in a restaurant. It won't be a big, expensive event, but I'm sure it's going to be a really special day. ❤
Of course, it will be very hard to have to go back to Europe afterwards without Claudio, but we see this as part of the path towards building our future together. I will spend three months completing my internship and will hopefully be able to get a job in marketing shortly afterwards, whereas Claudio will move back in with his family and continue with his current job until the end of the year. The plan is for us both to have jobs in Europe from early next year, and to start building our life there. Fortunately, Claudio has some holiday to take, so he will be able to come and visit for a while in August/September.
So, it's going to be a year of hard work and some challenges, but also a year of exciting changes and new opportunities.
Well, thank you for reading if you've made it to the end of my big life update! I'll be blogging again shortly. 😊
