On Christmas Eve, Kenn and I took the metro to two different parts of Santiago to explore. First stop was Barrio Italia. A nice neighborhood with houses and two-level buildings (as opposed to the fifteen to twenty story buildings of our downtown neighborhood).
A chocolate shop we found on Google maps, Xoco Por Ti, was our final destination in Barrio Italia. Our search was for dark chocolate bars Kenn eats as a supplement that improves his memory. They didn’t sell chocolate bars, so we settled for dark chocolate ice cream. Options were 100% cacao, 85% cacao from Kenya, and 70% cacao. We choose a scoop of the 100% chocolate and 85% chocolate. Xoco Por Ti also sells hot cocoa and chocolate frappés. We will return to test the other items. Xoco Por Ti is in the cutest little hallway/alleyway surrounded by very cute shops. I spotted a shirt that I should pick up on our next visit. Barrio Italia is worth some more exploring.
We then took the metro to the other side of town to a restaurant that one of my Spanish teachers recommended, Ocean Pacific’s Buque Madre. This area of town is called Barrio Brasil. The restaurant is on the street that divides Barrio Brasil from Barrio Yungay, which Time Out magazine lists as the #9 Coolest Neighborhoods in the world in 2022. In Santiago, that title appears to mean more graffiti than clean walls. Ocean Pacific’s Buque Madre is a huge seafood restaurant that people clearly visit for special events and occasions. My excitement about the kitschy decorations turned sour when my cell phone would not download the menu from the scanned code. The online menu (read on Kenn’s phone) was not easy to understand, and the fresh pre-dinner bread brought out before ordering was so crunchy it was not worth the calories. Once we ordered our waiter’s recommendation and a pisco sour, I was able to melt into the festive atmosphere and enjoy my husband and our odd way of celebrating Christmas Eve.
Below is a little video I created from our time there.
On Christmas, Kenn and I met up with a woman from my Spanish class and attended an English version of Avatar: The Way of Water at the downtown cinema. When the bill for three tickets came to 11,000 pesos (equivalent of US$12) Kenn got excited about seeing more movies in the cinema. Avatar is taking up all but one screen at the large cinemas, so that may be difficult to do for a while.
On Christmas Eve we video-chatted with family and friends. The gifts to the kids came in the form of online gift cards delivered on Festivus, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. This is the third year in a row that we have not been home for the holidays. Although I miss the gatherings and celebrations with family and friends, I do not miss the challenging weather or the never-ending task list that often comes with the holidays in the US.
I wanted to share how we celebrated our holidays in our endless summer. Although we missed the extreme cold snap that happened in Spokane, we did not fully escape the damage of the cold. During the record breaking freeze the door to the basement on our duplex blew open and the pipes froze. Through the process of thawing the pipes it was discovered that the main water line from the city froze and cracked. Our two tenants went without water the entire holiday weekend. We spent the weekend thinking we would need to excavate the city line which means digging up the neighbor’s driveway. Luckily, after holiday celebrations our plumber was able to fix the line without a complete replacement and excavation. A Christmas Miracle indeed!
Happy Holidays from down south.
