Feliz Año Nuevo!

There had been such a build up to Decemmber, what with my 30th birthday and Christmas away from family and friends, and now it was over along with us finishing our time in New Zealand we were full of different emotions. I almost felt like we had come to the end of our travels and we were about to catch a flight home, but in reality we were catching a flight to the half way mark. With South America being our last continent to conquer it feels only days away that we´ll be sat ion the sofa infront of the TV in England, slurping on some tea. At the same time though, with all these big events out of the way it could make things much easier out here, not feeling like we´re missing out on things at home anymore.

Anyway, we left our festive flat nice and early to make the journey back to Auckalnd and catch our flight to Chile. After three hours drive, the last thirty minutes that saw us trying to use the printed directions which made no match to the road names was an absolute brain ache. With Laura and I both feeeling a bit on edge and nervous about the country ahead we certainly lost our cool several times.

Somehow we did it all and had hours to spare before we could even check in for our flight. After exhausting many ways to kill time we finally boarded the plane for the captain to announce that due to a technical fault we would have to wait about forty minutes until take off. This turned into two hours of us being sat in some quite squished and uncomfortable seats listening to one piece of music on loop over and over again whilst the air stewards were trying their best to keep spirits high with free cookies and cups of coke. It wouldn´t have been too bad if it wasn´t for the fact this was an eleven hour flight. When we eventually took off another far greater niggle presente itself- the two Aussie girls sat behind us who were talking so loud that people in the cockpit must have heard their utterly ridiculous childlike conversations! If I heard one of them say "ooohhhhh mmmyyyy gaaaad" one more time she may have experienced a skydive without the parachute. Laura was having even greater issues with them and had her earplugs crammed in so far I was worried she may need them surgically removed due to one of the girl sniffing every 5 seconds for an entire 11 hours. Someone needed to introduce her to the wonders of tissue paper.

We came to land and got off the plane with Laura still clenching her teeth and fists when we found the transfer bus to take us to our hostal in Santiago. We had booked this place on the internet months and months ago and had the address that the internet site had given us written down. Unfortunately they had missed a number off, so rather than 257 we went round and round in circles looking for a hostal based at number 57. It had been a seriously epic journey getting from our Christmas flat to Santiago, but we were here now and damned well going to enjoy it, well, after a good night´s sleep anyway!

The next morning we were still pretty hazy but set out into the bright golden sunlight that was shining over Santiago for our first taste of South America. I had heard so many negative reports from other people (most of whom hadn´t been here to be fair) and wasn´t expecting much other than a grey city filled with non-stop chaos and crime. I couldn´t have been more wrong and after a few minutes of walking around we were both greeted by a vibrant, beautiful and welcoming city surrounded by ginormous mountains and beautiful colonial architecture. Not only that- the smells here were sweet and pleasant and the weather perfect- not a sinlge cloud and the kind of warmth that keeps everything just right without any kind of a sweat.

We headed to the nearby Cerro Santa Lucia, a hill bedecked with magnificant stone staircases that we climbed for views across the city. As we walked around passed decorative archways, huge chunks of rock and lush fountains we noticed the massive amount of love and romance in the air. Couples of all ages were snogging passionately like there was no tomorrow- this could be the new Paris! Looking around the European undercurrents were obvious everywhere though interspersed with touches that put us in mind of Asia- stray dogs, street vendors and another delicate sewer system leading to interesting toilet arrangements! Eitherways, we were both getting our buzz back being in such an interesting place and spent a good few hours getting to know it.

Santiago had been a brief but pleasant stop but it was time to move on to Valparaiso to get in the mood for New Year´s Eve! After catching two buses and slogging our bags up some seriously steep cobbled streets we made it to our hostal that we had booked for the next three nights. As the owner opened the door to see our sweaty, tired faces she looked confused as to what we were doing there. We nervously followed her in as there was a sign on the door claiming no vacancies and she said she had no bookings under Whiting or Blake. Of course she was wrong as we had received the confirmation email form Hostal World for the accommodation back in June. Suddenly the lady remebered the enquiry and explained that she had responded to Hostal World that she did not accept bookings in that manner at this time of year and prices were generally triple the usual. She showed us the email she had sent and it was clear it was not her fault and there was no use arguing as there was nothing that either of us could do, though that didn´t stop Laura from wanting to burst into tears and us having to find an alternative at a price we hadn´t budgeted for, if there was a room left at all. Helpfully the owner phoned an alternative hostal on our behalf and reserved a room for us but this was really going to cost. We started to walk up the road and hoped for the best.

On our way up there we bumped into a lively Aussie woman calle Angela who thought we were in need of a helping hand. She had also had trouble finding somewhere but had found a reasonably priced hostal just around the corner. After we explained our disaster she mentioned a host of other people who had been similarly let down by Hostal World today and were furious- our only concilation at present is that this will be posted on the internet for all to see! We decided to check out her recommendation and after a friendly welcome by the owner who gave us a good offer on a rather sizeable turn of the century room with sweeping high ceilings and period detail we agreed to stay there instead.

Again we were feeling out of it but the streets outside were so bursting full of colour and energy that we headed straight out to soak it up. After getting a terrific lunch from the cafe directly underneath our room we explored the town and had a look at the three different vantage points from where we could watch tomorrow evenings extreme firework display. As we walked passed the muliticoloured painted houses and down alleyways of fantastically graffitied walls it was hard to imagine the hundreds of thousands that would cram every cobblestone here tomorrow but it was certainly getting us in the mood. We found a local shop and bought some wine and champagne before it all got snapped up and went to bed with excitement in our bellies.

The following day was all about the evening and it was hard to think about anything else. We had ourselves a lovely lay in and got brunch at a restaurant down the road. I haven´t told you yet that since arriving in Chile we have been speaking to the locals in Spanish. Hardly anyone knows English bar a few words so we are really trying to remember what we learned at school and I must say we are doing pretty great, especially Laura, but then she never forgets anything with her elephant machine like brain.

Evening came fast and as I got the wine out of the fridge ready to kick start things I bumped into Angela again who was hosting a small dinner party in her room with two others before hitting the streets. She invited us to join in and within minutes the wine was flowing fast and getting to our heads even faster. The other two guests were a friendly German named Kay (pronounced Kai) and a slightly mysterious girl called Jessica from the Netherlands. After exchanging the usual traveller stories and eating some good grub we cracked open the champers and headed down the road to where the real party was at, after toasting the policeman stationed outside our hostal of course.

The streets were now fizzing with life and hordes of people were chanting, singing out loud and wishing one another a "Feliz Año Nuevo". We squeezed into a spot with a view across the entire harbour where the fireworks would kick off later whilst the intensity grew and grew. It wasn´t long before we had made friends with the Chilean people around us and we were topping up their glasses as much as they were topping up ours. By this time everyone was friends with everyone and no cup ever had the chance to go empty. We were very quickly losing count of how much we had to drink and were all getting louder by the glass. An hour after getting there it was impossible to leave the space we had found as the crowds had tripled in size and it seemed like the whole of Chile had come to Valparaiso to party. Midnight hit and the sky was blown to pieces with thousands upon thousands of colours illuminating the harbour and the grinningly happy faces below. I´d never seen anything like it before and the trails of exploded fireworks turned into fairy dust which gave the impression of stars falling from the sky down towards us. Laura broke out into "Auld Lang Syne" though I could barely hear her over the deafening cries of "Viva Chile!" coming from the rest of the crowd. Champagne was literally flying through the air along with silly string and confetti. We all turned to anyone and everyone to greet the New Year and kisses were being exchanged as though we were all the closest of friends. Admittedly my eye for the señoritas was working double time at this opportune moment!

Continuing our quest to kiss everyone in Valpo, Laura and I started to stumble through the crowds and very slowly make our way back towards our hostal. Laura led the way most wonderfully through the chaotic streets and would have earned top points if it were not for the very end of our journey were she tried repeatedly to open the door of the hotel next door with our key. Eventually realising her mistake, as well as the worse for wear state of her, I put her arm around me and shuffled the ten steps down the road to the correct door. Now it was my turn to reveal my drunkness as I searched for what seemed like ten whole minutes for the key before remembering that Laura had just been trying to use it and it was still in her hand! We were both complete states, I have never seen Laura so brilliant drunken!

We were so close to bed, but not quite close enough. On the way down the corridor Laura ducked into the bathroom and sat on the toilet with her head between her legs for a full 20 minutes or so before standing up and somehow managing to fall into the bath. It was at this point I realised that we had been doing everything in pitch black- the celebrations had caused the electricity in the city to go out. Using the tiny torch on my camcorder I led the way back to the room and lovingly placed my future wife into bed. I then placed the waste paper bin right next to the bed, rather convinced it would be of use throughout the night. Ooh my what a night, I´ll never forget this New Years Eve ever!