Michele Travels

It was late Saturday afternoon when James and I headed back out to explore Santiago.

My daughters (and besties with whom I traveled) will understand the title of this post as my personal travel mantra. I will explain…

In 2005, James and I took Maddie and our nephew Zach on a Mediterranean cruise. One of the port calls was Rhodes, Greece. It was a first visit to the beautiful island for all of us. As we strolled along the alleyways, we came upon a coppersmith’s shop. His work was incredible and entirely unique. I fell in love with a copper paella pan with an image of an octopus pounded into the bottom. It was spectacular. At the time, it was an expensive indulgence – $85 US.

I am the type of person who , when given too many choices, will choose none. After a mental tug-of-war, I managed to talk myself out of buying the beautiful pan. I have regretted that decision for 20 years! In all our travels, I never saw anything like that pan again.

Now, when I travel with my daughters, friends, and/or family, I strongly encourage indulgence. What’s the likelihood you/I will find the item again?! Buy The Paella Pan!!

Which brings me back to our early evening adventure In Santiago. When I learned that Chile is the world’s leading producer of copper… I considered it a sign from the heavens.

We hopped on the metro and headed to the Pueblito los Dominicos. Although there were a few ‘tourist’ shops in the barrio, about 80% were true artisans. Among the 100+ shops, there were only 3 offering copper cookware. I found a beautiful, 14″ hand-pounded paella pan! I also discovered a 12″ frying pan with a hand-turned wooden handle and a long armed ladle. VICTORY!! Not only were the items exquisite and unique, they were exceptionally inexpensive. All three combined were $110 US.

We wandered the pueblito for a good three hours. We decided to celebrate the end of my two decade quest by having a few cold beers and a snack:

The sun was setting as we left barrio Los Dominicos. We had to hurry back to the hotel so the concierge could arrange shipping our treasures home. We really enjoyed our time there.

James and I agree that Santiago reminded us of our former home in Ladera Ranch, California. Instead of the Saddleback mountains, our backdrop here are the Andes. Equally scenic and temperate…