Sightseeing in La Serena

Most of the sights are walking around the streets – best people watching for some time – but there is a very smart Plaza and a couple of museums – archaeology and mineralogy - and 29 churches (seems excessive for the population but apparently this was a staging post for clergy travelling between Santiago and Lima and each order had to have their own premises).
Iglesia San Agustin (built originally by the Jesuits but taken over by the Augustines when the Jesuits were expelled) had some very good modern stained glass. Linda's comment on seeing the very ornate statue of Our Lady -'there's yur wumin!' shows that you can take the girl out of Coatbridge but not....!

Taking advantage of the sunshine and warm weather in the garden at our apartment – it is overcast and cool with the threat of rain down south in Puerto Montt and the island of Chiloe where we will be for the next week or so

Estoy Jubilado!

My new favourite Spanish phrase – sounds so much better than 'I'm retired'! Can't imagine how I haven't discovered this before.

Assume the word comes from Latin – therefore jubile is joy and jubilate is shout for joy – seems fairly apt to me! Could even go as far as Psalm 100 – Jubilate Deo – but maybe that's a step too far.

Many of the places that we have stayed in the last week or so have had little or no English and one of the standard questions on the hotel registration form is 'occupation' so I had to come up with an answer. Now I say it to everyone whether they ask or not!

Two weeks in Chile already!

At the end of our second week we are here in an apartment at Hostal Balmaceda in La Serena after a fairly speedy - and slightly hair-raising - bus trip down the valley from Pisco Elqui this afternoon.
Our trip to the Fundo Los Nichos Pisco distillery was almost as good as my recent visit to Auchentoshan distillery outside Dumbarton with Peter. Our guide spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable and the 3yr old 40° was extremely smooth - as was their sweet dessert wine.
The cycle ride down the length of valley was a bit warm but the breathtaking scenery compensated for the few hills we had to climb up. This really is a magical place only slightly marred by the lively parties in the campsite across the road which went on for most of the night on both Friday and Saturday - we could have coped with that if it hadn't been for the rooster in the garden next door who started crowing at 4.00am and kept going until 7.00!
I'd have put him in the pot if I could have caught him.
We are back on the coast and the temperature has dropped by about 6°C which is pleasant in the afternoon and cool after dark. We are here for a couple of days to catch up on laundry etc and finalise the arrangements for the next part of our trip as we head South to Puerto Montt and Chiloe.

The Elqui Valley

Sitting by the pool at our cabana this evening – just after 5.00pm and still around 24C with a light cooling breeze – trying to decide what to drink.
Promised myself that I would write something for the blog before ordering a drink since we started on the hard stuff early today when we did the distillery tour at Pisco Capel – the largest producer in the country.
Unfortunately they could not provide an english-speaking guide so Linda had to suffer my translation of the explanation given by our pretty Chilena. Luckily I have visited enough distilleries that I could follow most of the technical stuff ! A quick visit to the tasting room for a drop of very smooth 40° Alta del Carmen and back into town for a go-faster haircut.
Then it was on to the local bus for a drive further up the valley to Pisco Elqui where we are staying for a few days. 1200M above sea-level and surrounded by the foothills of the Andes which rise 2-3000m above us, Pisco Elqui is the heart of the region where they grow the grapes for the Pisco production and is also a very popular holiday destination with plenty of hotels, cabanas, campsites restaurants etc. It's a very pretty place – an oasis of green nestled between the arid, brown mountains.
Have persuaded Linda to join me on a bike ride tomorrow up the valley to Los Nichos and one of the oldest private Pisco distilleries in the country and arranged a tour in English so she will get a proper explanation this time – I am sure the tasting will give us the energy boost we will need for the ride home!

The Sky at Night

Patrick Moore himself could not have done a better job of helping us identify the stars and planets and constellations than our guide Ruis at the Cerro Mamalluca observatory at Vicuna last night – and we got to see the craters on the Moon and the 2 stripes and moons on Jupiter through the telescope as well, amazing stuff.
And what a contrast from Santiago – to see such a wide open night sky without a cloud or any light pollution. After a day of travelling (three taxis, one flight and a 60km local bus journey) it was definitely the highlight of the trip so far!

The observatory with a 40cm telescope was developed and operated by the local council as a public facility and well organised. Judging by the numbers there last night -in three shifts – it must be a successful venture.
The north of Chile is home to some of the biggest telescopes in the world and the EU is currently building a 40 metre telescope in the mountains of the Atacama. Probably able to see the golf balls that the astronauts left on the moon.

Burns night with a difference

Unfortunately our plan to bring along a Haggis to allow us to celebrate tonight were disrupted by US Customs food importation regulations - even though we were only in transit. As a result we are forced to celebrate with an Empanada de Pino (a sort of Chilean cornish pasty) and a glass of excellent 40°Pisco.
Not quite up to the usual standards but sometimes one must make sacrifices for the sake of the travel experience!

A Unique experience?

In my travels I have come across more than a few girly bars – you know the sort of thing scantily clad young ladies trying to encourage sad old buggars to spend their last penny on the demon drink – and perhaps other services. I may even have frequented one or two in my time, all in the line of business of course.

However Santiago is the only place in the world where I have seen girly coffee bars – perhaps that would be a USP for a rival to Starbucks or Costa in the City of London or downtown Toronto?

Seriously though, the main stream cafés – drink your coffee standing up, mostly male clientele etc – have young ladies in very tight short lycra dresses who deliver the coffee from the barista to the customer and seem to do little else but chat up the customers and show off the outline of their thongs – is this becoming an obsession???

The harder core coffee bars have blacked out windows, low lighting levels and ladies serving the tables in what appeared (from a distance of course) to be little more than their underwear.

The coffee of course is excellent!

Big City

A few days in Santiago is probably enough – but a great reminder why I enjoy being in cities for a while with the crush of life and the vitality. With a population of around 6 million, it is a busy place with a great public transport system – including a modern metro which was uncomfortably warm at the end of the rush hour last night – a couple of good museums and a lot of very grand churches.

There also seems to be a very large police presence – carabinieri on every corner and squads on standby in buses around many a street corner. However they are as friendly as the rest of the population and perhaps help to enforce the sense of safety and security around the heart of the city!

There are also dozens of good restaurants and bars – went to Patio Bellavista last night to eat and drink – a sort of modern Covent Garden with street entertainers and music in the open spaces and hordes of people. Tried to check out one of the Irish bars but found it closed for the evening but still had a good time in the bar next door followed by an excellent meal and a session in the Jazz Bar listening to a Blues group.

It is also seriously warm – 33degC or more – although very dry. Not the uncomfortable humidity of Bangkok but still too hot to be out in the sun for too long. We are flying north tomorrow morning to La Serena for a week in the Limari and Elqui valleys – wine, pisco, star-gazing at an observatory, slightly cooler temperatures and much more we hope.

Moving on again

As promised Sunday was a bit of a late start – we managed breakfast just before they opened the hotel bar-café for lunch. Then off for a bit of sightseeing – a boat trip around the port and the bay followed by a couple of hours in the excellent Naval Museum. Two large cruise ships in port – Insignia and Deutchsland – watched them sail in the evening as we were having dinner.
Then preparing for our departure on Monday for Santiago – after the cost of our drinks and dinners in Valparaiso we settled for the SuperClass bus service which took 90 mins and cost about £5 each. Excellent service which may encourage us to use the buses a little more.
Santiago is different again – a very busy capital City with lots of hustle and bustle and traffic noise. We are staying in a serviced apartment here for the next three days so we have a bit more space and can do a bit of catering for ourselves (Waitrose equivalent only a few blocks away and a botilleria even closer).

Pisco

Another first when we followed dinner on Saturday night with a digestif in the Bar de Pisco .
Our first introduction to Pisco (Chile's national spirit – a distilled grape juice)was at home where Gerry used to make us Pisco Sours as an aperitif and I had assumed that it was just the local Chilean or Peruvian firewater only to be mixed in cocktails.
How wrong can you be – like Whiskey or Whisky or Brandy or Grappa or Tequila there is a wide variety of qualities and tastes. As you would expect, the Bar de Pisco had a wonderful selection and while Linda settled for a cocktail I went straight for the smooth sipping stuff. So good we went back again on Sunday as well and got some tips on which Pisco distilleries to visit when we are in the Elqui valley next week.
You may hear more on this!

Valparaiso

Definitely our kind of city – some great restaurants, cafés and bars.
For Saturday night we followed a 'Rough Guide' recommendation and headed for Café Vinilo for some Chileno food. Unfortunately they did not have the conejo (rabbit in white wine) which is one of their signature dishes but Linda had an excellent arollado of pork with a orange and mint mash while I had lengua de vacuna (cow's tongue) in a mustard sauce with a risotto of split corn which was just as good – impressed by their own brew of beer and the best bottle of Carmenere we have tasted (and the most expensive). Another very friendly welcoming place – listening to music from the Platters, and Abba and some Chilean folk group – all on vinyl. Even Peter B-C would have been impressed with the decks they were using – although the DJ wasn't going to start until 11.00pm.

The musical entertainment in our hotel was … amusing and entertaining. A lady singer of a certain age with a reasonable voice who sang in Spanish, French and English in the style of Ella or Piaf. By the time we left at 2.00am the show had degenerated into a sort of live Karaoke with contributions from most of the clientele – think Linda was keen to get me out of the room before I offered 'The Wild Rover'. Heard the end of the show from our room and settled down to sleep only to be kept awake by a group of drummers in the Plaza at the bottom of the hill who kept going until dawn – the second weekend in a row that I've made it through the night without sleep!

Moving on

After nearly a week in a small beach resort, we were ready to move on today.
Our taxi driver for the 40 min trip to Valparaiso was very friendly but he paid scant regard to the speed limits or other road users. We managed to find our hotel with little problem and we were treated to a cup of coffee on the deck overlooking the city and bay while they finished getting our room ready.

The Brighton B&B is the bright orange building sitting on the side of Cerro Concepcion -one of the three dozen or so hills upon which the City is built. The slightly precarious feeling was enhanced when we saw the supporting beam for the cafe deck above us which runs diagonally through our bathroom. However the staff have been very friendly and as long as we are the last ones to leave the party, then the noise upstairs should not disturb us!

Strange to be back in a city again and surrounded by European and N American tourists after a week of only Chilenos and Argentines. Our first walk introduced us to the hills, and the pasajes and the escaleras which are a necessary part of life here – good for the calf muscles at least. It is also interesting to be looking out over the country's main port – both commercial and military – almost felt like being back at work!

There is a wide choice of restaurants within a short walk of our hotel and we have a table booked here in the bar for the live music which starts at 11.00pm.Could be a late start for Sunday morning.

Birds on the beach

Thankfully not all the birds on the beach at ConCon are wearing thongs!

On our morning walks we have seen a great variety of sea birds and waders. Some are similar to those at home – oystercatchers, sanderlings, cormorants, whimbrel and curlews while some are unlikely to be seen on the Flaggy shore – Peruvian Pelicans, Snowy Egret, black-backed stilts, sandpipers, brown skua, lesser yellow legs, southern lapwings and a flock of Roseate Terns.
We also saw a couple of turkey vultures feasting on a dead seal along with a small raptor ( still to be identified) tucking into a dead Humboldt Penguin. All this in the space of a couple of hours on the beach!

Chile - First Impressions

Safe, secure, everything seems to work - so far; expensive, friendly(ish), warm weather at the coast but not too hot, good fish and seafood (haven't tasted the meat yet but looking forward to some excellent beef), expensive (did I say that already - £2 for a bottle of beer in the bars and restaurants, same for a glass of wine and a bit more for cocktails). Good road system and excellent transport links, everywhere offers good wi-fi.

ConCon bay where we are spending our first week to settle in to the local customs, language, etc is about 33deg South - on the northern edge of the Central Valley. It is a wide bay with a very gently sloping sandy beach - very like Lahinch and ideal for surfers (mostly beginners). For about 30km south of us the coast is almost continuous beach resorts very popular with locals and also a lot of Argentines - beaches get busy around midday and stay that way until dusk (9pm) - best European example we can remember is Sitges - not much personal space here.

We are here until Saturday when we head for some city life to Valparaiso for the weekend and then on to Santiago for a few days next week. Then we fly north to La Serena - the Elqui valley, wine, Pisco, observatories, more beaches and ...

Fat-bottomed girls

As you can imagine, I see very few bottoms in thongs during the year at Moyhill - even on the beach at Lahinch they are rare - perhaps due to the weather.

The beach at ConCon bay is covered in them for most of the day - hard to see the sand at times. However despite the few that are pert and round like a ripe peach and glistening in the sun, the majority are of a somewhat larger size - ranging from 'does she not have a mirror at home' to 'that would be a good place to park my bike'!

Flying South

Easy check-in and boarding although the flight was completely full. After a 90min delay sitting on the plane waiting for cargo containers to be loaded it was -17C when we were at the de-icing station just before take off.

The delay meant that we arrived in Santiago during the immigration officers lunch break. By the time they returned to work there were around 2500 people in the queue who greeted them with a slow handclap.

When we walked out of the terminal in Santiago it was 32C. Luckily our taxi to Con Con was air-conditioned and it was only about 26C by the time we arrived at the coast. Our apartment looks over the beach which was quite busy when we arrived.

After dinner in a local fish restaurant we went to sleep listening to the waves breaking on the long sandy shore and when we woke in the morning the beach was deserted – perfect for a morning stroll!

Toronto in the snow

Woke to a light dusting of snow – temperature dropped to -10C – now I understand why people have heated car seats! Linda went shopping for a new bikini without success then back to Jim & Suzanne's to relax before their Friday night Pub-Night (an evening of unlimited alcohol consumption hosted by each neighbour in turn);
We got to bed before dawn but only just.


I made it out of bed in time for lunch on Saturday and after a brief -very chilly - walk around the block, we went to see Braeden's ice hockey game – our attendance obviously inspired the whole team as they won 3-1 against a team several places above them in the league.
Then it was time for an early dinner before heading for the airport and our midnight flight to Santiago.

Leaving Moyhill

Earlier start than intended - my phone rang at 0410 (must have been a wrong number) I assumed it was my 0520 alarm and was up and straight in the shower. After about 5 mins Linda pointed out my mistake – in her usual endearing fashion – and told me to keep quiet for another hour.
It was wet and misty as we left Moyhill and pretty much the same when we arrived in at Jim & Suzanne's in Toronto 17 hours later – easy, uneventful journey -US pre-clearance in Shannon was a real treat – even got a laugh with the US Immigraton officer – the flight wasn't crowded and the connection via Newark worked well.

That Joni Mitchell moment

Our bag is are packed and we're ready to go.

Taxi's coming at 6.15 in the morning to take us to Shannon as we start our trip to Chile - with a short detour via Toronto to visit the CC & Coke drinking BMW driving Banker cousin.

For all those people who have commented or complained about the lack of my blog posts for the last 6 months I have resolved to do better this year.

watch this space!