A Love Nest and A Slimy Snake

Friday

On Friday night we decided to get to know a bit more of the night life and say goodbyes to a study mate Marina from Germany, whom we got to know at the Spanish school. Along and next to the street Pio Nono and Patio Bellavista in the bohemian quarter Bellavista are various kinds of bars and restaurants.

A tiny pub called Budapest on Patio Bellavista.

Patio Bellavista has in addition to bars also many tourist shops and local handicrafts, which are easier to spot during daylight.

Lukas didn't go to Istanbul...

... but instead to La Otra Puerta.

Marina, Lukas and I in La Otra Puerta listening to pulsating latin music live.

Leidis' Night in Bar Constitución - the DJs were chicas.

Saturday

Not even 12 hours later we were back in Bellavista.

Sipping cortado, coffee with milk, on the patio.

Have you ever heard of Pablo Neruda? He was a famous Chilean poet and politician, who lived a part of his life in Bellavista with his mistress, later his third wife, Matilde Urrutia. The house, which he built for Matilde, consisted of three parts. The first one was the shape of a boat to treasure his great passions in life: sailing, sea and Matilde. It was their secret love nest. At the time it had a great view over the city to the Andes and the place was hidden which served him perfectly in order to keep his affair with Matilde a secret from the public. Later, when their affair became public and they got married, he built two additional parts.

He was young when he first started to receive attention by his poems - at the age of 18 he published his first book of poems called Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair. He was also friends with legendary characters such as Diego Rivera and Marcel Marceau.

The tour through one of the three houses of Pablo Neruda was really fascinating but also an educating history lesson.

Some time after his death the house, La Chascona, was opened to the public as a house museum by the Neruda Foundation and it cherishes this peculiar man's life and work.

Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1971.

Pablo was a womanizer.

After we left Pablo's house we had to stop at Feria Diseño where I found many cute unique pieces made by young local designers.

Lovely dresses but I didn't buy any - yet.

These little boys playing guitar we saw on our way home.

On Saturday evening Lukas's workmate Jose Luis and his wife María José took us out. First we went for dinner at a picada, typical Chilean fast food place.

This completo, also known as Vienesa Italiana, is actually a normal hot dog with avocado, tomato and mayonnaise. It's Italian because of the colours of the Italian flag.

Stuffing the completo.

María José, Jose Luis and Lukas at Jose Luis's friend's birthday party.

Flomingo

Flomingo is a chilenismo, a word play from the words flojo and domingo, lazy Sunday. Not to waste our day off indoors we went to the zoo.

Monkey business.

The snow white tiger was frustrated in the cage, but luckily the zoo is building a new, bigger fence for them.

That sneeky snake was creepy!

Lukas is feeling completely at ease. Was it the man or the snake that made him so comfortable?

A Smug Llama and Other Curiosities

Next to studying and being a housewife there weren't much time for anything else. Now that I finished my two-week Spanish course I have more time during the days again. We try to see every week something new, and some little "chilenisms" (yes that's right, it's a word, I just created it) we managed to do. For example, the language school organises several activities during the week, and one Wednesday evening we tried salsa and merengue in Cuban style in a little club close to us. For Lukas it was the first and the last time here but I liked it a lot!

A Cuban salsa club Ile Habana.

On Friday night we met with Juan, our friend from Santiago whom I met already during his exchange semester in Dornbirn last year. We had tapas dinner in a Spanish restaurant and continued to Barrio Bellavista, an area of Santiago which is known for its vast cultural supply and great night life.

Lukas, Juan and I in a bar called Mito in Bellavista.

The drinks are not that much cheaper here than in Europe. What a disappointment, although we had fun anyway!

On Saturday we suffered from the consequences of the Friday night so we skipped the cultural activities for a calm dinner at Juan's house and explored the city more on Sunday.

The official seat of the President of Chile is in the Palacio de la Moneda.

Plaza de Armas, the main square in the centre was packed with people - as always.

Plaza de Armas on a Sunday afternoon.

Catedral de Santiago.

Admiring the great cathedral.

Before we reached our goal, the central market, we passed many, many tempting shoe shops.

Information especially for Niki: I haven't bought any pairs of shoes yet! Are you proud? Or surprised? ;)

Along the pedestrian street we came to the Mercado Central, a big market where you can buy vegetables, meat, fish, have lunch, drinks, you name it. There you should hold on to your bag, even though at times not even that helps. And the smell inside the market hall is a bit overwhelming thanks to the fresh (or not so fresh) meat... Your gagging reflexes will be tested when entering the building.

A part of Mercado Central's fruit and vegetable collection.

It's like he'd be laughing at us, that smug llama.

He wanted to make money on our (and the llama's) expense but we were faster at snapping the picture!

Blizzard in the Andes

Now when I think back, I do have to admit that the signs of chaos were in the air already from the beginning. Early morning on Saturday the alarm clock rang. Día de la Nieve, the Day of Snow, organised by the organisation ChileInside had arrived. Lukas had been looking forward to it the whole week. Though in Santiago it should've been called the Day of Rain as it had been raining since the last night.

I went to shower but no hot water was coming. Okay, no shower then. On the way out I had to return back about three times: the gloves, the scarf, the camera... As if I hadn't gone skiing before, forgetting everything like that! Anyhow, aware of the risk that the roads up the mountain might be closed we still continued to the school where we met the others. There were many German students, an English guy, two Finnish girls (one was even from Kajaani - how rare), and a couple of locals to name a few cotravellers. The minibus for 15 people arrived.

All the busses which drive up to the ski resorts have to pass some kind of border control, where each car and and its driver are checked by the Carabineros (the uniformed Chilean national police force). That's where the problems appeared again. Our driver didn't have his documents with him and we weren't allowed to drive further until we got another bus and a new driver. The bus was double the size and we cheered when we were able to proceed.

As it was raining in Santiago meant it was snowing in the mountains. Driving up required to pass 40 curves which would eventually bring us to ski resort called El Colorado. However, even though the driver mounted the chains on the back tyres, we got stuck at the 25th curve and to get up again the bus had to reverse several times. The big bus was not able to get a grip to the ground and the driver was too lazy to mount the chains on the front tyres. Sliding up and down the street was scary!

Curva 25.

Finally we managed to get going again but it wasn't the last curve where we got stuck. Finally, three hours and forty curves later the goal was finally getting closer. Did I mention that this ski resort is only 40 km from Santiago? Despite the looooooooong waiting, the bus's steamy air was filled with excitement and anticipation! Mr. Weatherman and Mother Nature had decided not to make going up easy for us, though. The bus was spooling again so we decided to walk the last bit up. Everyone just too eager to go skiing - powder snow was calling!



Can you see the determination?




When we finally had the gear on and on the lift going up the slope, it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It kept snowing the whole time, non-stop. The first piste was almost flat and with that amount of fresh snow sliding down was not easy as it was knee-deep. Apparently in Chile it is not allowed to clear the snow off of the slopes if the lifts are open.

Lukas snowboarding.

When we eventually reached the restaurant it was a big celebration! At last a dry and warm place that served food.

We survived!

Looking at the map of the area we realised we had selected the beginners' slope, the kiddy piste.

And now lunch!

That was it for me. No more skiing! One slope was enough for me. Lukas still went snowboarding two more rounds and met the rest of the group afterwards at the restaurant. Everyone was happy, when the bus came finally to pick us up. It was an expensive day and weatherwise definitely not worth it, but a hell of an experience! From now on, only summer stuff for Johanna.

Tired but happy group of ChileInsiders.

Two Tourists

Our first week in Santiago started upside down - partying during the week, and sleeping it off on the weekend when normal people go out - and already on Friday night we both were knackered after long evenings spent out. As I told you before, Lukas's local workmates took us out introducing two very different and amazing places in the city. The first one we tried out on Wednesday evening is a must-see and can be found in every town - an Irish Pub - where we despite of its Irishness were able to try some local goods: Chilean beer and a pisco sour, refreshing but kick-in-the-butt strong drink. The next day we found ourselves in an old French hairdresser salon serving as a restaurant at night time. Boulevard Lavaud is kitchy, decayed romance style restaurant/hairdresser from the 1900 where no tourist would find by themselves. I absolutely loved it! Did I mention they prepare delicious steaks and dangerous desserts that make your mouth water? Yum-my.

Boulevard Lavaud.

On Saturday we packed the backpack and our Lonely Planet Guide like proper tourists and headed to the centre. Every time we manage to conquer little obstacles that come along our path while exploring the wonders of the Latin American culture, we feel like winners. Ordering lunch in a restaurant, for example, is still a bit of a head scratcher (unless you want to eat pizza all the time) with all the Chilean words, so from time to time we're forced to drool over our neighbour's plate. Only way to learn! ;)

I mean, look at the menu behind me! What would you order??

One of the great things about living in a big city is that it never stops surprising you. First, when we entered the Plaza de Armas (the physical centre of a city, such as "Marktplatz" or "tori") we saw hundreds of people on the square. Some chilenos were concentrated on a game of chess, children were running after the pigeons, painters were selling their art and adults were gathered around a street artist family playing the drum beat. It is incredible what kind of talent can be hidden in people!

Chess players.

The children chasing pigeons.

An inspired painter.

The musical father&co.



Moving further into the pedestrian street Paseo Ahumada, we met some Bolivians living in Santiago. They were celebrating the folklore of the Day of the Virgen Copacabana by chanting, dancing and playing in a colourful carneval. If I hadn't known better, I would have said it's Fasching in Vorarlberg!





Carneval on Paseo Ahumada.





Once we stumbled out of Paseo Ahumada, we arrived at the foot of Cerro Santa Lucía, especially popular among tourists. The view is breathtaking to all directions but if we had known what we're about to see on Sunday... As the sun was setting down our evening continued at another huge shopping centre, Alto Las Condes, where we wined, dined and saw the movie Proposal.

The warm winter colours.

The view from Cerro Santa Lucia.

Sunday showed us another side of Santiago and even a bigger hill on the other side of the Rio Mapocho. Cerro San Cristobal is considered as the biggest attraction for tourists visiting Santiago where Santa Maria is spreading her protective arms above Santiago.

The train lift taking us up to Cerro San Cristobal.

Cerro San Cristobal.

Santa Maria.

Rio Mapocho at dawn.