As I mentioned in Part 1 of our first day in Chile, our trip started out with a few bumps and bruises and some carsickness. But things most definitely got better. Our re-discovery of Hotel Oceanic brought a huge smile to my face.
And soon, that smile grew even bigger.
While the kids and I marveled at the waves crashing on the rocks outside the hotel, and while I was giddy smiling for a photo with my husband in front of the hotel, Gary was forming a plan. He walked into the hotel and asked about the possibility of booking a room THAT NIGHT!
Yes, right then.
And you know what? They had a room— a perfect room! They called it the ‘family apartment’ and it had 2 bedrooms, a view of the ocean and a place for all 5 of us to sleep! My heart was full and leaping… all of the bumps and bruises from a night of quasi-sleep on the plane, the long wait for the rental car, my poor son waiting desperately for a bathroom and my daughter throwing up in a bag all faded to black. Here we were at a hotel in a magical location. Together.
We unloaded the car and explored our room.
Gary cancelled the other hotel he had reserved for the night in Santiago and we filed into the restaurant for a seafood lunch/ dinner, Pisco Sours and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc for the adults.
We ordered two half bottles of the wine rather than one full-sized bottle so we could compare the two and enjoy the variety.
My favorite of the two was the Santa Digna, while Gary preferred the Casillero del Diablo.
Magic.
After that we took a new photo in front of the hotel:
Then went for a walk along the Pacific Ocean, bundled in our coats and yet still splashing in the water a bit.
The kids shoes got drenched. Everyone laughed and smiled and pointed out different things: rocks, a fisherman, graffiti, surfers, more dogs watching us, happy families. It was gorgeous. I’m not sure how far we walked, but it was far. Eventually we stopped and the kids had ice cream and we turned back to return to our home for the night.
We supervised the brushing of teeth, tucked the kids in and then Gary and I headed down to the lounge for a quiet glass of wine. I think there might have been only a few other guests in the hotel, so we sat alone and marveled at our day.
Eventually we went back up to the family apartment and tucked ourselves in for a great night’s rest. The next day we had a winery tour scheduled as well as a flight to Buenas Aires. Our adventure was finally off to a magnificent start!
Leave a Reply