Chile Wrap-Up

Facts and Figures
Length of Stay:  Forty-two days
Miles Traveled:  3,555 by bus + 3,926 by plane = 7,481 total (10,346 since landing in Quito)
Cities and Towns Visited: Arica, Iquique, San Pedro de Atacama, Viña del Mar, Pucón, Valdivia, Castro, Puerto Montt, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, Santiago, Valparaiso, Hanga Roa
Intercity Buses Taken:  17
Flights Taken:  3
Disgusting Blisters Magge Developed:  4, at least
Natural Disasters Experienced:  1

Rankings in the full post.
Jeff's Top 3s
Meals - The food in Chile had about as much flavor as the food in Peru, which isn't much, except there was more mayonnaise.  Before Magge's mother and stepfather joined us, I was thinking a top three meal list would be difficult.  Fortunately, they bailed us out with some great meals.
1.  Ternera con salsa romesco (veal with romesco sauce), Cafe Central Catala, Santiago.  Our first dinner with Marcia and Lee was my favorite
2.  Shrimp curry, Azul Profundo, Santiago.  My first choice was unavailable, which has strangely been a regular occurence on this trip, but the meal I had to "settle" for was deliciously un-Chilean.
3.  Grilled steak, sausage, vegetables and pineapple, Pucón.  We met another American couple, Jen and Aaron, in Pucón on Super Bowl Sunday and we all decided to forget we were in South America for the day and pretend we were home, grilling lots of meat before watching the game.

Stays
1.  Rachel and Gonzalo's place, Viña del Mar.  Friendly faces, big and soft bed, TV with DVD player and a great grilled dinner.
2.  Tree House Hostel, Pucón.  We had to share a bedroom for the first time on the trip, but the coziness of the place and friendliness of the owners made up for it, plus we met some great people.
3.  Almirante Riveros B&B, Santiago.  We ended up staying here for ten days instead of the planned five, so it's a good thing we liked it.  They served the best breakfast we had in South America, and any place that doesn't collapse on me during an earthquake gets two thumbs up. 

Experiences - Chile is my favorite country on this trip so far, with many experiences standing out.  If you were to ask me again in five minutes, this list could very well look different.
1.  Standing at the lookout point in the French Valley, in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia.
2.  Climbing Villarica Volcano.
3.  Seeing the sun set and the moon rise at the same time in the Valle de la Luna in the Atacama Desert.  The bike ride back to our hostel, lit by the brightest moon I've ever seen, was a great second act.
Honorable Mentions: Rafting with Marcia, Lee and Rachel; canyoning in Pucón; and Rano Raraku on Easter Island

Magge's Top 3s
I wil have to admit that as we were planning our trip Chile was probably near the bottom in terms of countries I was excited about visiting.  I'm not saying that I didn't want to visit Chile, just that there were quite a few other countries I was more excited about seeing.  Well, Chile absolutely blew me away.  We had such a spectacular time there.  There's so much to do.  We really wished we could have had another month to spend there.  We felt so rushed and feel as though there is a lot we missed.  We will definitely have to make it back down some time in the future to spend more time in Patagonia at the very least.

Meals
So really my meals were mostly chosen for more sentimental reasons, but I have to say that the caldo de congrio that I had deserves honorable mention, as do the amazing empanadas that Rachel introduced to us.  Caldo de congrio is a soup that was made famous by the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda.
1.  Sunset dinner of peanut butter and banana sandwiches in Valle de la Luna.  We've had a lot of PB sandwiches on this trip (thanks, Meredith and Noah for sending down some more!), but sitting and watching that sunset while chomping on those sandwiches was truly great.  The ride back to our hostel afterward, lit by the full moon, was probably one of the greatest experiences of my life.
2.  Super Bowl cookout in Pucón.  Though we have encountered very few Americans throughout our trip so far, we were lucky to meet Jen and Aaron the day of the Super Bowl.  They were heading out to camp elsewhere for a few days, but returned early due to rain, so we grilled up some steaks, sausage, peppers, and pineapple and had a great dinner together watching America's favorite pass time (sorry, baseball).
3.  Tuna at Astrid y Gaston with my mom, Lee, and Jeff, Santiago.  Delicious!  Really, I could have put any of the meals we had with my mom and Lee on this list.

Stays
1.  Viña del Mar at chateau de Rachel and Gonzalo.  Wonderful hosts and the most comfortable bed we've had on the trip without a doubt.  We also had a fantastic grill out with Rach and Gonz followed by a rousing game of Jungle Speed.  It was pretty hilarious how into it Jeff got.
2. Tree House Hostel, Pucón.  Jeff and I really loved Pucón and this hostel was so comfy when it was raining outside.  They had a great cozy common room with a warm stove.  I had a wonderful day, curled up and reading.
3. Almirante Riveros Bed and Breakfast, Santiago.  Though we didn't really want to stay in Santiago for an extended time, I think both Jeff and I were grateful to be staying at such a nice place.  The breakfasts there were so delish!

Experiences
Not fair!  I really have no idea where to begin with this because there were so many incredible experiences that we had in Chile.
1.  Hiking in Patagonia.  I was so excited when Jeff surprised me with plane tickets to Patagonia.  We didn't think we were going to have time to make it down, but he found a last-minute deal and we had such a spectacular time.  Some of the most incredible views I have ever seen in my life.
2.  Wandering around Easter Island.  Even though we didn't get to stay for as long as we had planned, and didn't get to go with my mom and Lee, Easter Island was, without a doubt, one of the coolest experiences of my life.  The spectacular history set on such a beautiful island... just awesome!
3.  White water rafting with the family.  I missed my family so much and was so happy that Mom, Lee, Rachel, Jeff, and I were able to spend the day together on the rapids.  (Now all I need is to see the Bells . . . AHEM!)  As I said in my previous post, it was probably the most fun runs I've ever done.  I've never been on rapids where there were no quiet points.  To add to the fun, the earthquake two days earlier added some new boulders our guide hadn't seen before.