December 24- Christmas Eve in Vina del Mar- Chile

It was hard for all of us to wrap our minds around the fact that today was Christmas Eve. We were so far removed from the hustle and bustle that is typical of Christmas back home and we were out wearing t -shirts and shorts! It was sunny this morning which is unusual in Vina del Mar at at this time of the year. Most mornings have been overcast and so foggy that you can actually feel the wet on your skin even though it's not raining.  The temp usually hovers around 19c - 25 c when the sun comes out in the afternoon. The boys were very excited about the upcoming party knowing that ALL  of the guests of Casa Del Sol B&B would be attending. We have raised some die hard social butterflies who were missing the usual party circuit we are lucky enough to be a part of at home.

Ninfa- our host and her 3 friends from Santiago were organizing the whole evening by purchasing food, wine and pisco to make pisco sours! (Liz's new favorite cocktail) It's a combination of Pisco, massive amounts of lemon juice, sugar and egg white. The best way to describe it is like the South American equivalent of the margarita but served in a champagne glass- Yummy and powerful.

We ventured back to Valpariaso today for the boat tour of the harbor. It was there we met Sasha, an Israeli who had just finished his conscripted military service and was now traveling  for 6 months. He accompanied us on the 1/2 hr boat trip captained by Leonardo on his craft he named I LOVE JENNIFER. He also owned 2 other boats named "I LOVE LISA and I LOVE ANALISA - obviously a ladies man. All three sported spray painted Canadian flags so when our captain found out WE were Canadian he got even more animated and friendly.

Our tour  gave us close up views of the military ships, sea lions and an awesome view of "his Valpariaso"

Dinner is late here and tonight was no exception. We didn't even start to prepare until 8pm. All 18 or so of us pitched in while the family from Santiago prepared the parilla. The boys opened small gifts from us at midnight and the party continued till about 2:30 am. We kinda like this Chilean tradition because it means a good sleep in the next morning! It was a very memorable party for all of us and for the first time the boys weren't moaning about not spending Christmas at home.

~Liz