In Valle del Elqui

After 5 days in Santiago, we were glad to get out of the city. We visited a German-Chilean family the night before. It was a really nice evening. Not easy to decide where an international family wants to live: Sunshine and warmth outweigh good education and retirement savings!? On the way, we got caught in the rush hour traffic on the metro. If you ever have a need for a lot of human closeness, I recommend taking a ride on Line 1 from Los Héroes with a transfer to Line 4! 😉 Surprisingly, it is safe to get home. All Chileans have warned us about the crime in the cities. But now, we are out in the countryside. The bus system with transfers works really well, even if you are sitting in your seat freezing cold and forced to watch one action movie after another. The Chileans ban chocolate Santas so that children don't eat too much sugar, but no one cares that the child in front of me has to watch 6 hours of Sylvester Stallone and World War II movies. But now we have arrived in the idyll, as you can see in the pictures. Roberto and Ally rent out this small piece of land. We are here with a Chilean family and at breakfast there are always political discussions and questions about each other's countries. Cristian had already won with Helmut when he showed up at the table on the first day wearing a Borussia Dortmund jersey! I'm really impressed by how much the Chileans, or at least this one, knows about Germany. The fact that the Schalke stadium allegedly has a direct supply of Veltins beer through a hose is just one example of useless knowledge. Otherwise, the diesel scandal, the AFD election results in Bavaria, refugee issues, the man knows more about German politics than most of my guys from WundA. What else do you do here? We actually wanted to stargaze, but yesterday there were clouds. You ride your bike through the valley, making sure no dogs chase you, and you hang out in the hammock. Personally, I'm still taking care of my upset stomach (Montezuma's Revenge), as I learned from my sister. I also call it the effects of the green salad from San Antonio. And we are planning the next few days: La Serena, San Pedro de Atacama, and then heading south...