Not Your Average Wedding

By Freda Hoff
Published: March.1, 2012

When our son, Brian, who has been living in Chile for the past five years announced last February that he and his fiancé set their wedding date for December 17, 2011, we started making plans for another South American adventure, our third now.

About twenty friends and relatives from Canada and the U.S. thought the same. Most would arrive about a week before the wedding and then spend the three to four weeks after the wedding travelling south to the lake district, over the Andes to Buenos Aires or south to Patagonia.

After fifteen hours of air travel, we arrived in Santiago the next day to a pleasant 30 C., not as hot as it would get in a few weeks.

The wedding took place in Vina del Mar, a coastal town next to Valparaiso. Vina, as they call it, has it all – beaches, restaurants, hotels, shops and artisan markets. It is the upscale side of Valparaiso with a modern flavour compared to the old port city.

The stately stone church located on a hill above the beach in old Vina was an atmospheric choice for the ceremony. A sea breeze blew up as we greeted the other guests on the front steps before we entered. The late afternoon sun shone through the lovely stained glass windows during the ceremony.

The reception followed at the European style Club Espanol de Renaca, the next seaside town, just north of Vina. Following a sit-down dinner and an abundance of good wine, about a hundred guests danced their way into the wee hours of the morning.

As my niece from Minnesota said when we left at 2 am, “I think I’ll stay longer. I just got my second wind.” Did she say the wedding ended at 4 am?

Following the Christmas celebrations, we spent the next three weeks travelling, first north  to the Valle Pisco del Elqui, about eight hours north of Santiago.

The valley tucked away in the Andes boasts of the famous Pisco, a brandy made from the grapes that grow high up the sides of the mountains. It is also the birthplace of the Nobel prize winner for poetry, Gabriela Mistral.

We returned to Concon, another seaside town just north of Vina where the newlyweds live, and started preparing for our next trip, this time south to the lake district.

Five of us packed into Brian’s Suzuki Vitari , suitcases and backpacks on the roof and headed down the Pan-American highway about 1000 km. to Panguipulli, a friendly Mepuche town. After a few days of relaxation we headed through the Reserve Huilo Huilo,  an amazing natural park.

A ferry trip on the Ferry Hua Hum brought us closer to the border crossing to Argentina, the only way to get there. After crossing we drove on a good  but very bumpy gravel road for about two hours and arrived in San Martin de Los Andes around midnight. That was another adventure.

 Brian grew up in Squamish . He has been working as a mechanical engineer in the installation of the international astronomy project, A.L.M.A. in the Atacama, Chile.

When I am travelling I am also on the lookout for the beautiful yarns that are sold in South America. I use these in my woven creations which are in the Portico Gallery in Squamish.