Santiago had been dry for months. I was spending my time between the driest place on Earth and another considerably dry and polluted place and I was tired of it, so I went searching for rain. In this season it means simply going south. Together with two other fellow Portuguese, we took advantage of a 3-day weekend and went to visit Valdivia, one of the rainiest towns in Chile, located in the rivers region, just a few hundred kilometres north from where Patagonia starts. It is at the junction of two rivers, 30 kms from the sea and 10h by bus from Santiago. It also has a strong german influence and community, beer breweries, a big university and even its own "jungle", motivated by the peculiar rainy climate.
We arrived and... it was raining! And cold! And windy! Apparently Valdivia was coming out of a storm. No complains, we knew it was going to be like that! We took the first day to explore the city and some museums. Starting by the food, Valdivia has a lot of tasty and fresh fish and seafood. I got so full of seafood during those days that I couldn't even see it on the week after! The museums were also very interesting as this was a very important city during the Spanish occupation. However, the biggest adventure was to actually reach them. We had to cross a bridge to the opposite shore and we were suddenly struck by heavy rain propelled by a strong wind. We arrived at the other side half soaked wet and half completely dry! Epic! Then we went for the beer. Valdivia brews the Kunstmann beer, one of the best and most famous in Chile. They opened a restaurant next to the brewery and now allow people to taste other less known kinds of beer. We asked for a taste of all of them, 8 in total, then chose one and asked for a 2.5-litre column and finished with the strongest (and tastiest) of them all. In total we had around 3 litres each, with all the side effects that come with it!
On the second day it was raining again and we went to the coast. There are several fortifications on both shores of the bay, built during the Spanish occupation to protect Valdivia from pirates. In Niebla, there is a museum that goes through the details of the design and building of the fort system. The fort plans were designed by a Portuguese architect and the whole structure was ruined by an earthquake back in the 18th century and rebuilt afterwards. The whole museum was quite impressive! We then decided to cross the bay by boat to the other side, to Corral, to visit the other fort. We stopped at the tourist center where we talked long time with the manager. He knew a lot about the history of the place and also about the region. It went dark and we didn't manage to see the fort properly, but the talk was worthwhile. The boat trip back was very peaceful, enjoying the light rain and the night darkness across the channel.
On the last day it was sunny! A miracle! We went through the town again and it looked like a different place. It is amazing how sunlight can change everything! We went for a walk in the botanic garden, which had a sample of many of the characteristic species of Chile and then back in town to try the typical
crudos, raw meat "cooked" in lemon juice. That night we took a night bus back to Santiago and when we arrived... it was raining! After nine months, it rained again in Santiago, cleaning the air a little bit. At last!
I was on holidays, in Portugal, ten months after the last time. It was the annual visit, paid to family and friends. I left one world, in Chile, to arrive at another world, in Portugal. When you live in two completely separate worlds that you enjoy, you can easily be inside each of them and find good moments, happiness and comfort. Unfortunately, switching between worlds that are totally separate implies leaving all of one world behind and grab all you had left before from the other world. Leaving things behind is never easy, I'm actually terrible in achieving that, and grab all you left would be easy only if you grabbed exactly what you left, if nothing changed meanwhile, if you didn't have to realize that what you left is not as you left it anymore. The switching process is therefore tougher, harder and you even risk staying trapped between worlds. Since all you can carry from one world to the other are memories, you can easily find yourself dwelling in them, trying to make memories real and pull them into the current world. This happened to me last year, and costed me one month of happiness in Chile. This year things went smoother, I was prepared. I only arrived this morning to a cold Santiago, I do not know yet how I will feel on the next days, but chances are good that I don't dwell again in a world that does not exist...
