Zapallar, Chile

With zero expectations and no plans in site, we headed off from Santiago towards the coast.  The only thing we knew was Valparsia was the 2nd largest city in Chile and a place "not to be missed". When we had planned to come to South America, I had read that Valparesia was amazing and one of the best beach towns to check out in S.A. As we drove from Santiago through many winelands, we could see all the damage and destruction from the recent fires. The vineyards were beautiful, as you would expect. Gorgeous green fields, perfectly spaced out vines, the whole nine yards. As we got closer to Valapersia, we started to notice more and more liter on the side of the road. Santiago was a very clean, modern city and so far, it looks like we are headed in a completely different direction. The closer we got to the city, the more and more we felt like we were heading for a city in a third world country. Lots of graffiti, beggars, barb wire surrounding most buildings, people in the middle of intersections doing juggling and other tricks for money. As we drove through the city, we quickly realized this area wasn't for us, so we continued driving North. 

The next place we got to was Vina Del Mar, which was a busy city - not as big as the previous, but way more hyper than we were expecting. Paul let me and the boys out at the Pullman hotel for a bathroom break. I called Paul when we finished and he says, "check out the area and i'll find somewhere to park". The boys said they were starving so I tried to order them a smoothie which didn't work out because my Spanish is non existence. The friendly server didn't speak any English so we knew we were in trouble. I finally understood there were some fresh juice options - strawberry, pineapple and mango. We finally get some drinks - probably not what we ordered, but they were amazing! Next we hit the bathroom one more time and then call Paul, to see if he found parking. He was still in his same spot waiting for us, I completely misunderstood what he said. He stayed back in the car, blocking the street, for a good 45 minutes while we were inside enjoying our drinks and using the banos! Anyways, after we got back in the car we decided to continue North. Julie's friend, Maite, recommended a beautiful town called Zapallar - about an hour north of where we currently are. We continued North and finally found this amazing small village built into the mountains. We tired several of the hotels she recommended but they were all sold out - it was around 8 pm while we were still searching for a room. As we were eating dinner, I found a small BnB that still had rooms so we decided to take a chance. Casa Wilson is the name of this little BnB. Around 1904 a German aristocrat disassembled and moved three different houses from Germany over to Chile. They rebuild the houses and all the furnishings inside are the original German furnishings. The man who made this huge investment had a daughter that he loved very much. His daughter fell in love with an "average" person here in Chile. The father would not allow his daughter to marry this person and sent her back to Germany to marry a wealthy man of her same status. Every year she would return to Chile and reunite with her true love. After years of this, her love found someone else to marry and so he refused to see her anymore. Heartbroken by this discovery, the daughter committed suicide. This same year her father left her this beautiful home in Zapallar.  After she died, the father was so depressed he couldn't stand to look at this home anymore. In 1924 the current owner, Samuel's, grandfather bought this home - exactly 100 years ago. Samuel is proud to have this BnB continue on in his family. Him, his wife and three daughters all work and makes this place so special. All the decorations and artifacts are the original ones from Germany. I was joking with the boys about this place being a haunted mansion! Neither one slept much that night so I guess the spooky stories were not the best idea!