The Best Two! And Now, Patagonia.

Hi friends and family! We have just arrived in Patagonia after two incredible weeks in Rio and Santiago. We are excited and...tired. We were out the door at 3:15 am for our 5:30 am flight from Santiago to Puerto Natales, and we're running on fumes.

But it is beautiful here on the edge of Torres del Paine National Park, and we can't wait to explore this part of the world! Now let me tell you about Rio and Santiago--two cities that we absolutely loved.

Rio. Just saying the name makes me relax and sink into my chair. It is magical there. We stayed about 5 blocks from Ipanema Beach and across the street from Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a seawater lagoon with an 7.5 km running track following the perimeter. (Having a place to run where I couldn't get lost was absolute heaven.) As predicted, we did all the Rio things and spent the rest of the time at the beach.

Our first adventure was a hike to Cachorias do Harto in Tijuca National Park. The hike was wild, with fixed ropes and chains to guide us across the slippery and steep rocks. Maybe not totally safe, but totally fun! The kids played in the waterfalls, and we realized just how much they've grown. (Left, Brazil 2023; Right, Olympic Nat'l Park 2017.)

The next day we took the red train up the hill to see Christ the Redeemer. The statue is magnificent. It is visible from all parts of Rio, like a protector over the city, and we loved spotting it on our other adventures.

The next day we went on the Rio Star ferris wheel (tip: skip this one) and then took a taxi to the Escadaria Selarón. The stairs were so much better than I had expected! There are 215 stairs covered in over 2000 tiles from all over the world. We even found a tile from Camano Island, which reminded us of our trips to Noona's house!

Then it was time for Sugar Loaf Mountain! We rode the cable cars to the top, and the views were just incredible. I could have spent hours up there looking around, but the kids were done in about 10 minutes. (At what age do sweeping views become interesting?) So we took the cable car halfway down to Morro da Urca, and then hiked the rest of the way to that beautiful red-sand beach to the left of the cable cars.

I was so thoroughly infused with relaxation that I finally let the kids drink directly from a coconut. They were so happy (and it was delicious)! I wish I had chilled out earlier and just let them walk around Rio all week with coconut drinks. Live and learn.

Too soon, it was time to leave our new favorite city. We begrudgingly said goodbye and flew to Santiago. We arrived to our new apartment at 11:30 pm, and I just wanted to go back to Rio. But the next morning we walked to the bakery across the street for fresh bread and cinnamon rolls, and suddenly things were looking up for Santiago! It turns out, Santiago is fantastic.

After sufficient carbo-loading, we went to Parque Metropolitano, one of the largest urban parks in the world. (Speaking of big, in the pic above you can see the Costanera Center--the tallest building in South America!) We took the cable car to Cerro San Cristóbol, and visited the beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary.

We hiked back down the mountain and were amazed by how many people were out exercising. I mean, there were thousands of people at the park. I felt like I was at a DMB concert at the Gorge in the 1990s, only everyone was super fit. It was awesome.

Another highlight (for me, the kids likely will disagree) was our hike in Parque Natural Aguas de Ramón in the foothills of the Andes. The hills were covered with California poppies, glowing orange against the residual spring snow capping the Andes. It was like Rainier in the spring, and I felt so at home.

The kids were promised a suspension bridge on the hike, which kept their spirits up and their complaints mostly quiet. And any day in the mountains is a good day for me. So I was happy.

Many people told us to go see the Valparaiso/Viña del Mar area, so we drove out for an afternoon. The car rental clerk scared us away from Valparaiso, so we went to Viña del Mar for lunch and beach time. The kids will never not have fun on a beach, so it was a fine afternoon. Baker, Lu, and I also invented a fun new sand-tag game, and I remembered how hard it is to run in dry sand. My calves still hurt.

The real highlights of Santiago, however, were just simple the moments when we felt at home. Everyone we met in Santiago was so friendly and warm, and everywhere we went was clean, safe, and beautiful. Ginny made a new friend, Matí, and played with her and other neighborhood kids every day. I found a mile-long running loop near our apartment and ran while enjoying podcasts and sunshine. Baker and Lu lived for the obstacle courses at the local playground. Life felt comfortable and real for the first time since we left home, and it felt so good.

And now, we are in the very unreal Patagonia. Another transition, and we feel ready for it!

We'll have four weeks of nomad life, seeing both the Chilean and Argentinian sides of Patagonia. This is bucket-list big for me, and I plan to soak up every moment.

I hope you all are well. We sure miss you!

All my love,

Madeline