Honeymoon Adventures - Lambeau Field! (Part IV)

**our noses (ok, mostly mine) are ridiculously red in all these pictures due to 1) wiping it 28762 times on the way up the volcano and 2) the wind.  the ever blowing, never ceasing, mostfrigidthingihaveeverfelt wind that we experienced on the way up the volcano.
After attending our first wedding (Tom & Nora's, it was lovely!) as a married couple, Javs and I decided to squeeze just a few more days out of our honeymoon with a trip to Lambeau field.  Actually, this was my wedding present to my dear hubby (a little thank you for marrying me), but I'll write a post on wedding presents later!  Once Javier's Wisconsin family learned that we'd be making a trip to Green Bay to round out our post wedding shenanigans, they offered to get in on the fun by sponsoring a stop at a supper club on the way north from Milwaukee.  Saturday afternoon we started heading northward, our destination: Schwarz Supper Club.
   Wiki's Supper Club summary:
    In the U.S., a supper club is a dining establishment generally found in the Upper Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, 
    Michigan, and Iowa. These establishments typically are located on the edge of town in rural areas.  They were traditionally thought of as 
    a "destination" where patrons would go to spend the whole evening, from cocktail hour to enjoying night club style entertainment after 
    dinner.  They feature a casual and relaxed atmosphere.  

    Supper clubs generally feature "simple" menus with somewhat limited offerings featuring "American" cuisine.  Menus included dishes    

    such as prime rib, steaks, chicken, and fish. An "all you can eat" Friday fish fry was particularly common at supper clubs in Wisconsin. 

   Relish trays featuring items such as crackers, carrots, pickles, radishes, and celery are typically served at the table on Lazy Susans. 

This supper club included an attached guesthouse, that Javier and I would have all to ourselves for the evening :)  The house was charming, owned by Stephanie and her husband Charlie who also owned and ran the supper club.  They welcomed us to St Anna and showed use around our new spot, even offering to start a fire on the patio that evening if we wanted to sit outside and enjoy.  We hung around the house in the afternoon, watching football (alright, we napped...we were exhausted) and then walked next door for our delicious dinner!

We had to wait a bit for our table, but I'm so glad that we did! Because it meant ordering a few beers and Stephanie's world famous onion rings.  They were the best onion rings I've ever had.  When we did sit down, we enjoyed a feast!  A feast of sirloin, prime rib, grilled scallops and potatoes like I'd never fix them at home ;)

our complimentary grasshopper dessert :)

We were up early the next morning (Javs was like a little kid waking up for Santa...he couldn't wait!) and headed to Green Bay for some tailgating, Lambeau style.  After a quick check in at the Bay Motel and bus ride to the stadium, we had arrived :)  It was very cool to see so many fans completely decked out in Packers attire.  You couldn't walk two car lengths without seeing 10 cheeseheads :)  And we fit in well sporting our Rodgers' and Jennings ' jerseys.  I was mostly excited that tailgating Lambeau style included a climate controlled area full of beers, food and......a green endzone wall for fans to try out their own Lambeau Leap!!

Javs' Lambeau Leap!!

my attempt at The Leap!

thank goodness for climate control
(and no judgement for ordering beers at 10am)

 We got into the stadium early.  Javs wanted to check out our boys (we're Packers owners now!....Javs' wedding present to me!  I'll save it for present post....) and settle into our seats.  Not a bad view right?

Section 101, Row 11, Seats 6 & 7

The game was a little sloppy (the Packers didn't look great), but it was great to see them!  And we had some fun plays to watch and remember from the day. The Packers blocked a punt and returned it for a touch down!  (how cool!)  Donald Driver caught a touch down in our end zone!  And we had the sun the whole game, so the temperature was perfectly pleasant.  As were the people around us.  Mid-westerners totally live up to their reputations.  Everyone was so polite and nice.  Javier and I had made a sign, declaring our newlywed status, so everyone around kept wishing us lots of congratulations.  And Lambeau is AWESOME.  The stadium feels really cozy.  We agreed that the next time we came (cause there will obviously be a next time) we could get seats just about anywhere and still have great seats!

so close...I caught this hand off action on camera

Honeymoon @ Lambeau!

he wanted one last look after the victory
happy husband :)

Cabezas?  That's us!

The game had gone just as we wanted...a Green Bay win!  The rest of our evening....didn't.  I'll keep this part of my recap brief (since it wasn't the happiest of memories, but how our trip ended none the less).  When we arrived back in the US, in addition to touching base with family and friends, we learned that a hurricane named Sandy was about to touch base with the east coast.  Sure enough, shortly after the game ended, we learned that our flight home to DC the following morning was canceled due to the oncoming storm. It had been over two weeks since we'd been in our apartment and I was more than a little anxious to return to my bed.  So after many hours on hold, talking to AirTran representatives, driving to Chicago and sleeping on airport seats....we boarded a flight to Richmond (via Atlanta) and ended up being some of the last folks to make it in pre-Sandy.  We caught a ride from some good looking drivers (hey, they had our name on their board!) and made it back, safe and sound from the most out of this world, amazing honeymoon ever :) 

Honeymoon Adventures - Pucon (Part III)

We left Santiago excited for Part II of our alone time in Chile.  After two short flights we arrived at Temuco airport.  Airport is a generous term for the parking lot where we landed.  (This is actually a picture we took as we left Temuco a few days later, but you can see that we're walking to our plane from Gate 1...of two....at least it meant we knew security would be quick on the way back....cause we ended up cutting it a bit close.)  We picked up our rental car (Funny aside: Javs couldn't remember which company he had reserved a car with...it ended up being the third one we tried....there were only three options...) and headed south to Pucon.

When you search Pucon, Chile in Google Images you get pictures like this and that.  We arrived in the dark and couldn't see the volcano (or lake really) but looked forward to waking up to views such as these.  After checking in to the Gran Hotel Pucon (our room and bathroom were HUGE compared to the efficient rooms we'd been staying at! Javs is showing the enormity of our room in these pictures.) We walked around the small town for a bit, grabbed some grub and planned to find out about our options for hiking the volcano first thing in the morning.

And find out we did.  It was impossible.  Not impossible, but definitely not happening that day (Monday) or the next (Tuesday).  We were told by William (who ran an adventure company, recommended by our travel book) that there was a slight possibility the weather would be good enough Wednesday morning to head up the mountain, but we'd need to check back.  Our flight back to Santiago was Wednesday...and we had to drive to Temuco to catch that flight...but we really wanted to climb, so check back we did.  But I'll get there....

As you might have guessed it was a cloudy day in Pucon (which meant no views of the volcano), but we'd heard the natural hot springs were actually good to visit on rainy days (you were gonna be getting wet anyway) so we headed down the road a bit to Huife to soak in some hot water.  Here is my hubby, hanging out in a steamy pool.  It was actually really a fun time.  Huife is the area's newest complex that included three baths, each growing in temperature.  We tried out all three and even put our toes in the frigid river that ran right along the springs.  The river ran down from the snowy mountain tops so you can imagine the temperature difference between it and the hot springs.  Might be nice in the middle of summer, but one toe was enough for us to decide to stick to the pools!

us by the river

Javs' reaction to the water temperature

On the way, we had seen a sign: 'Tres Saltos' (Three Waterfalls) and decided to stop on the way home.  The sign was home made (many signalling stores and restaurants were) but as we drove a ways off the road we came, literally to a home.  A woman walked out and removed an orange cone blocking our way (after we paid her 2000 pesos to pass...its less than $5).  We were skeptical at this point (did these guys just have three waterfalls in their back yard?) but hiked up the path another home made sign directed us.  And it ended up being totally worth it :)

we saw some beautiful views

and amazing waterfalls

totally worth the back yard adventure ;)

The day light (and minimal cloud cover) helped us see the view from our room a bit easier.  We could see the lake and its beautiful ashen beach.  We enjoyed another wine picnic in our room ;) and then went out for a delicious dinner and night out in Pucon.

after our night out ;)

We checked in with William the next morning (another cloudy day = no view of the volcano) who confirmed that the weather would be good enough to 'try' to hike the next morning if we wanted.  We wanted! and planned to be ready for the volcano (and checked out of our hotel) at 700am the next morning.  With plans settled, we decided to take advantage of our nice hotel and started our day with a couples massage :)  It was very relaxing.  Honeymoon life is hard because we had to follow up our massages with the most delicious meal (I think) we had our entire time in Chile.  

Did I mention we had this gorgeous view of the lake while we dined on carrot and beet soup, trout with a warm (buttery) quinoa salad and pork loin with red cabbage?  Yeah, I know....tough life.  After our somewhat lazy activities we thought we'd attempt some sight seeing.  Since we could climb atop the volcano, we thought a trip inside the volcano caves might be in order.  So we learned a bit about the Villarrica Volcano (last eruption = 2008) and headed inside to see the caves the molten lava left behind as it traveled through the innards of the mountain.  Exhausted by our minimal physical effort of the day, we napped before eating our excellent wood-fired dinner :)

Entering the caves!

don't the walls look so cool
(as my husband looks in that helmet)

yum-o smoky flavor

enjoying our dinner with pisco sours!

in the car on the way up
(we are so naive)

Our plan for Wednesday: get up, get ready, pack and check out by 7am, meet Sergio (our hiking guide) to get suited up and drive (as far as we could) up the mountain, hike up the volcano (should take 4-6 hours) hurry down the volcano, pick up bags from hotel, frantically drive to Temuco airport, fly to Santiago.  It was going to be a busy day.  We were excited, but slightly nervous about the hike.  William had warned that it definitely took some physical exertion and we knew we weren't quite prepared (attire wise) for the snowy top.  But we were pumped for the adventure!

we are not at the top yet
but look at those clouds already

Climbing this volcano was the hardest thing I've ever done (and I feel fairly confident saying the same of Javier).  It took us 5 hours.  Five hours of tiny, steep, wind blown steps.  The hardest part was the wind.  It cut your face and froze anything that was exposed (like poor Javs' ears).  It was also physically tiring.  We were carrying big packs and sinking in soft snow.  When you didn't sink, it was because we were walking on ice and had to dig our company issued ice picks into the ground to keep our balance.  Sergio said we needed to reach the top by 2pm (we didn't start until 9am because of the snow falling) if we were ever going to make it back for our flight.  We reached the top at 2pm on the dot (with some heavy encouragement from Sergio at the end).  The views were amazing! (As was the wind...)

showing some Cvent pride

next to the crater

look at those clouds!

I think its the closest to heaven I'll ever be here on Earth (something pictures just can't capture).  And we decided that if we could survive this challenge, our marriage could certainly survive (at least) the next challenge that comes our way!  The trip down was a lot quicker (and a lot easier!)  Sergio gave us little plastic paddles that we sat on to slide down the mountain.  The distance we had covered in 5 hours, was traversed in 1.5 on the way down.  It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  We were both, so glad that we did it.

our paddles
(and FINALLY a view of that volcano!)

with Sergio (he was awesome)
we just climbed that!

We made it in time for our flight (even with a vital bathroom and food stop!) and headed back to Santiago to start our trip back to the US of A!

Honeymoon Adventures - Vina! (Part II)

Javs and I made a quick stop north of Zapallar at a cool cemetery located right on the coast before heading south to Vina del Mar.  Javs’ cousin, Moira (who lent us the car), told us it was worth the trip and it totally was.  Grave sites were packed, one on top of the other and all completely covered with flowers.  And the graves extended all the way to the rocky cliffs and gorgeous views of the ocean.

It’s impossible to describe the contrast between the sleepy little town I’d just spent my first days in Chile visiting and the sprawl I witnessed as we drove into Vina del Mar.  The Chilean hills come right up to the ocean and are covered in houses of every color imaginable; yellow, orange, green , blue; there were people coming and going and traffic!  It felt like leaving Charlottesville and entering New York City.

Hotel San Martin told us we were a bit early for check-in, but we wanted lunch anyway so Javier asked about Diego’s Pizza, a spot he remembered from his childhood visits.  I kid you not, it was across the street from our hotel.  And delicious!  (I was skeptical of childhood Javier’s memory of ‘good’ pizza) 

Then we checked in to another great room with an ocean view J  I was desperate for water so we made a quick trip to the store and ended up with a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers for a little picnic on our balcony.  That night we drove just north of Vina to a restaurant, Aqui Jaime for a seafood feast. 

We were up early the next morning determined to find Pablo Neruda’s house (we’d tried on the way to dinner the night before and…well failed.)  We learned why the next morning, we had to park and walk up what felt like 500+ steps to get to that part of the city.  The views alone made the climb worth it, but Neruda’s house was also really cool.  He was kind of quirky and loved the ocean, boats, stained glass doors and concocting specialty drinks.

  

In the afternoon we met up with the other Cabezas in town from DC for a lovely lunch at Tia Marta’s house.  I had met Marta on her visit to DC.  She had been working hard with Jody to pull off our Vina reception so it was good to visit a bit with her.  It was such a sunny day, that Javier and I snuck in a quick trip to the beach before visiting and planning (for the reception) with family that night.  At the beach we made a new friend.  Stray dogs are everywhere in Vina, but they’re all so well feed and good looking, it was hard for this American not to bring one home.  This el perro decided our spot on the beach was superior to all others and practically shared my towel with me…

It was another early morning, not because of the reception that day, but because of my stubborn determined husband.  Here’s where I tell a little story on my Javs.  First let me say, I was completely impressed with his Spanish.  He has always downplayed his knowledge to me and others that ask, but he really stepped it up while we were in Chile.  We came across few English speakers and he had no trouble leading us through.  I was impressed.  But there was one important word that apparently evaded his vocabulary up to this point: stoplight.  Since our arrival in Vina he had been trying to find this fish market he remembered seeing as a kid.  He knew I’d love seeing the fisherman bring their catch in and had asked countless Chileans how to get to it.  All of whom gave us directions, explaining that is was pretty hard to miss.  We couldn’t find it.  Finally Javier asked some of the family and learned that there was actually a stoplight where we needed to turn off the main road to get to the market. ‘Ahhhh, that’s what that word means….’  Apparently all of our direction givers had already been telling us about the stoplight, but poor Javs didn’t know the word….Armed with our new vocabulary we headed out early to catch the fisherman coming in off their boats.  The market was AWESOME: fish still flopping about, purple crabs, and huge sea lions as close as arms’ length.  Totally worth the struggle it was to find the place.

The reception that afternoon was at the Naval Club.  Jody and Marta worked so hard and the result was truly wonderful.  Jody had thoughtfully printed and placed the Neruda poem we had read at the wedding (in Spanish) at each person’s seat.  She had also brought Monticello book marks and Fleurir chocolates as Thank You gifts for our guests.  It made a really beautiful bridge from our US celebration to this one in Vina.  It was so nice to meet and see so much family.  Everyone seemed very pleased that we had made the trip and happy to host us the next time we were in Chile.  After the reception we continued the celebration at Marta’s, visiting with cousins Javier hadn’t seen in many years.  We drove to Santiago that night to see Javier’s Tia Lilette and Tio Sergio.  I had never met Lilette (Moira’s mom) so it was very nice to meet Fernando’s other sibling.  She was incredibly quick and funny and spoke perfect English.  After our short visit we went to Tio Sergio’s for an early (by Chilean standards) lunch before our flight to Pucon.  It was really wonderful to get to spend time with this incredibly warm and welcoming family.  I felt a little more like a Cabezas as we headed south to Pucon!

Cabezas kids with Tio Sergio

Moira was our Guardian Angel :)