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).
Monday, 23 January 2012
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!
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!
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!
Saturday, 21 January 2012
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.
Friday, 20 January 2012
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!
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!
Thursday, 19 January 2012
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 ...
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
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'!
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