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Going to Santiago today, Tom and Fran were going to go to Talca, but decided to skip it and come with us. We all took the overnight bus to Santiago. I slept a little but woke several times to see the stars were really bright outside.
We arrived in Santiago very early in the morning and were served a roll with cheese (sort of stale) and a very sweet black coffee The sun was rising in the east over the Andes (well the mountains near Santiago). It was lovely, there were pale pinks, blues and orange and yellow spread over the early morning sky and the quiet morning feel of a waking city, very nice.
Got to the terminal and caught a taxi to Scottīs place. It said on the flyer that you had to be careful with the getting ripped off with taxiīs. So we were trying to be cautious so we ended up getting in a taxi with a guy who had a lisp. Just our luck to be ripped off by a Chilean taxi driver speaking fast Spanish with a lisp.
Scott offered us a free coffee or tea, I had a nap in one of the beds till our room was ready. It took a while. The home itself is quite big but is in a bit of organized chaos. Scottīs an American who fell in love with Chile and has been in Santiago for the last 6 years. He is absolutely chock full of information. He gave us maps and showed us bus routes.
We decided to walk into town following the most scenic route as marked on his map. Consequently we got lost, it took twice as long as it should have, my sandals gave me blisters and we all quite tired by the time we got to the main shopping area.
It must have been the last day of school because at one of the fountains we stopped and had a break at these school boys arrived and ganged up on one of them and threw him into the water. This then was the impetus for everyone to jump in the water and splash around. The next obvious thing for them to do was to hurl all there shoes into the water, so a wave of shoes went flying across the park into the fountain. The festivities stopped briefly as a scary looking policeman went past on a dirt bike, but as soon as his back was turned everyone went back in! We enjoyed the spectacle.
Beside from that we went for lunch confused the waitress, wandered around a bit and caught the bus back. This brings us to the Helado (Gelato) guys.
These guys race onto the bus shouting īHelado!, helado!īand then reel off every flavour they have at 100mph, chirimoya, chocalito, cien pesos. Us gringoīs thought it was funny.
From : Linn and Blair
Off to the wine tasting! Caught the immaculate metro, then the metrobus to the vineyard. The vineyard is quite a way out of town and I think the people on the bus thought we were lost because at least 4 people told us where to get off. The vineyard is set in a very beautiful spot backing up against the mountains which surround Santiago. Collected our Concha y Toro wine glasses at the gate and walked around (English tour) drinking wine and soaking in the scenery. Very enjoyable as you can imagine, a drunk group of Americans (they seemed to have squeezed in some other wineries that day) were having a better if not louder time than us.
Tried to call Antionetta at La Serena to get on the Media tour of the Gemini South telescope but missed her, oh well not to worry.
From : Blair
Took the bus to the Los Dominicos Markets and discovered a bug fruit market selling every type of fruit, so what the hell we bought a kilo of this and that and sat down and polished some of it off. Mmmm the cherries were great!
The artesania fair is just next door and has heaps of stuff and after wandering around for ages we bought a cute little chubby latin American angel, and two little sheep for Fran and Tom. They are our chrissy decorations.
Once we made it back to the centre of town we took the funicular railway to the top of Cerro San Cristobal where there is a huge Virgin Mary Statue overlooking the city. There is also a zoo which is apparently woeful. The view however, was incredibly boring and completely uninteresting, just Santiago framed by the snowcapped mountains of the Andes with all the hubbub of the city playing out below while we watched in the quiet serenity of the lookout underneath crystal clear blue sky. Not worth mentioning really.
We got serenaded by a panpipe guy at the top (sorry dad didnīt buy the album!). Fran yearned to go out and Linn and I had a craving for Japanese so we took Fran and Tom on their first Japanese food experience. It was very good I have to say (Sorry, Gary from Sushiya), a little expensive but worth it. The onto a bar where we got squished in a corner but had a good time nonetheless. Our taxi driver gave us an impromptu Spanish lesson by making us sound out each syllable of īNo Te Preocupes!ī (Donīt Worry!).
From : Blair
Most museums in town are free on Sundays so opting for the Pre-Columbian museo we headed off. It is chock full of pottery, stonework, ironwork, goldwork, weavings. Really good stuff and with captions in English for the dumb gringos. Wandered around for ages looking at everything. The gift shop had a great little ocarina in the shape of a bird but was unfortunately not for sale.
Developed some films, Rule 1: Never develop fuji film in an agfa shop!!! Rule 2: see rule 1.
Scott organized for a BBQ tonight so Linn and Fran bought a fish and Tom and I got some steaks, plus the usual beer and stuff. The BBQ turned out really good except Scott wasnīt there. Claudia (Scottīs Ex) tried to cook a whole chicken by defrosting it for a few minutes then placing it whole on the grill! Hmm umm me thinks that wonīt work! One of Claudiaīs friends then helped me pull it apart, during which we discovered the still frozen giblets in the middle.
Managed to chop the chook into four pieces and put it back on the grill. The BBQ was in the corner of the garage and for some reason Fran (Vego for 9 years) ended doing the cooking. But to make it a little more difficult it was dark so she had to cook with a head lamp on! She cooked the meat to perfection and with Claudiaīs friends we all had a great time!
From : Blair
Linn and Fran after buying the fish for the BBQ yesterday and it turning out so good decided we should go to the fish markets for lunch. So we went and got sucked into this restaurant which was a little pricey but the guy reminded me of Ken Meadowcroft (for those who know Ken, Ken say hi to folks back home!) Iīm not too fond of being pushed into a restaurant, but we had some ok fish, nothing spectacular unfortunately and the beer was really overpriced. I refused to tipī. That was my pathetic stand against tyranny.
Linn and I had both decided that we really like Santiago and wouldnīt mind working here. So we left Fran and Tom and decided to walk to the Univ. of Chile astronomy dept. Well we walked and walked and walked and walked went through some nice areas of town and finally made it to the physics dept only to discover that the astronomy dept was on the other side of town. Oh well. Went back to Scottīs dejected.
Tom got Fran to cut his hair and in the end it looked ok despite Tom initially freaking out. So to continue the Hair Cutting Festival 2001, Linn cut my hair pretty good actually but could have been shorter.
From : Blair
Tom and Fran headed off to Isla Negra and we spent the day talking to people about jobs, doing Scottīs website (Linn) www.oocities.org/scshabitat - hell we may as well advertise it since we put it up there!!
Oh should mention Scottīs breakfasts before I finish writing about Santiago. Scott prepares this massive fruit salad (yumm), you get a complimentary slice of homemade banana cake (yumm), plus bread and jam, and a coffee and if youīre up to it an omelette to top it off. I rarely made it to the omelette!
Well after a semiproductive day Linn and I went to Isla Negra to meet the others at Casa Azul a great little place with open fire and kitchen. We got there about 8pm and cooked a great pasta with basil, lit the fire and stayed up to 2am. Great place to chill!
From : Blair
Off to Pablo Nerudaīs house/museo.
Pablo Neruda is a very eccentric poet/diplomat/collector with a great little house that he added to over the years as his collection of odds and bods expanded over the years.
His house has this nautical theme running through it and almost every room has view of the ocean. If I ever build a home Iīll do it in parts like his house. Really interesting collection of stuff.
Spent the afternoon on the beach - not really a beach since there are sharp rocks and you canīt swim but the sand is nice to lie on. Went home lit the fire, had dinner, played 500 went to sleep. Oh breakfast was huge had two eggs - very unusual for me.
From : Linn
Harry Potter movie opens today.
Had Brekkie and we caught a bus to Valparaiso - lovely coastline. We walked around Valparaiso looking for a beach but soon realized it was just a port so we caught a bus to Viņa del Mar the next town along. Except we stayed on way too long and the bus started disappearing up a hill away from the beach so we had to catch another bus back. T & F went for a swim the water was really cold and towards the end of the day we watched the school kids muck around on the beach, some practicing capoeira.
We ate in Valparaiso in a nice restaurant but in the dodgy area of town, and only saw the nice bit on the way to the bus terminal to go to La Serena. Oh well maybe next time. Valpo looks interesting but needs more than a day to explore.
From :
Linn
Arrived in La Serena at 6:30am, with little sleep on the bus. The sky was still a bit dark. After going the wrong direction for a block (linn: rolls her eyes at the two boys (B and Tom), who are both fussing over the maps in the guide books), we finally turned around and get to the place we wanted to stay at. We woke up a man you comes to the door, only to tell us that they are full. So to the next place we went. After ringing the door bell about 5 times, a man answers the door and let us in. The place is not so big and we are told that the rooms are full for the moment but people will be leaving today. We were told to return around 9:30 when the rooms would be ready. The fantastic four that we are stumbled sleepily around a beautiful city, absolutely quite (because every normal human being was still sleeping). I was so tired that i couldnīt be bothered to take my camera out to take advantage of the photo opportunity. We found ourselves sitting on a park bench in the main plaza (Plaza de Armas). I tried to manouver myself into the most comfortable position on the wooden bench for a desperate nap. Tom, the energetic, returns shortly after a successful scout to find a place that was open. We rushed to the cafe. The guy had only opened his doors 2 seconds before, but immediately had 4 cortados to make. We managed to waste away the morning with breakfast at another cafe and some administrative phone calls to organise our tour to Cerro Tololo.
I finally got my desperately needed nap around noon. We went to the market area for lunch. There was 5 now. An israeli, Yoav, who was staying at the same place joined us. As soon as we stepped near the building, we were approached (under statement) by about 6 people pushing business cards in our faces and waving to us to go to their restaurant. The amusement wore off after 2 minutes and just got annoying. We decided on the restaurant by their view, had some misunderstanding about purchasing beer, had a mediocre meal and decided to get away from it as soon as possible. However we did return later that day to have a look at what Fran called "Handicraft Hell".
From : Linn
It was a rainy morning in La Serena. But after a 1.5 hr bus ride we were in the sunny valley, Vicuņa. We decided to stay the night at the place with the pool. Fantastic choice. We whiled away a few hours in the arvo by the pool. But we did manage to go to the local feria (market), bought a tonne of fruit! WOAH! cherries, plums, nectarines and these weird little papayas (Fran ended up eating them all cos B & I didnīt like them and Tom refuse to try one after seeing my reaction). Yoav cooked us an israeli meal that night. Fantastic! [recipe on website somewhere]
That night we went to the Mamalluca observatory. We all almost fell asleep on the ride up to the mountain. It was getting late (way past our bedtime anyway). We got to look through the 30cm Meade, inside a mechanical dome (no lifting and pushing Chris). Unfortunately it was a night after full moon so the sky was quite bright. Our english speaking Chilean guide started off by showing us the Orion Nebula (birth of stars), globular clustar (47tucanae), saturn, the moon. We also got to look through a dobsonian at the Pleides, the moon in full and Neptune and couple of other stars as well. Neptune was my favourite, as always. No red spot but lots of moons.
We slept very well that night.
From :
Linn
The Elqui valley is the only place in Chile that produce Pisco, a very popular chilean alcoholic drink. The Capel factory, the dominant company in Chile was only a short walk from Vicuņa. They have free tours a few times every day. We arrived to find about 8 people waiting for the same tour. Then just before we were about to start, a bus load (about 40 people) got off a huge tour bus and they were all in the age range of 60 plus. The tour guide was attractively dressed in a red jacket and short red skirt and took us around speaking in rapid spanish. Even Yoav who spoke spanish had a hard time keeping up. The tour ended with a small sample. After which all the folks bee lined it into the souvenir shop to buy the place out. We poor backpackers decided to give it a miss. Fran bought a bottle though-well one of us had to.
We caught the afternoon bus back to La Serena, had a huge pasta dinner that B & I cooked. Not as impressive as Yoavīs dinner the night before. We sat around the gardin of the new place we were staying at (Casa Maria-really nice place) and drank beer and the pisco with lemon and sugar. I still havenīt acquired a taste for it yet.
From : Linn
Yoav left the night before for Viņa del Mar so we were back to four. We were going to be picked up that morning by 2 people associated with the telescope. I was feeling very self conscious about my clothes. B and I had planned to be back in Santiago yesterday so we only packed our day packs. Iīd been wearing the same clothes for... (hmm...) and had managed to splash tomato sauce all over my clothes cooking pasta the night before. Not to mention that in my desperate desire to gorge on the fruit in Vicuņa I wiped the dirt on my clothes, as well as the juices that managed to drip and squelch out....enough of that. Well I managed to wipe some of these stains off my clothes the night before so i looked quite acceptable in the morning-sort of.
Antoineta and Dara got lost trying to find our Hostel. It turned out that there were 4 streets in La Serena with the same name, Las Rojas. Go figure! Finally we were on our way up the mountain to see the newly finished Gemini South telescope. It officialy opens in January but this was a special tour that Antoineta (the public liesance officer for the project) organised for us. We had emailed the director of the project pleading to get a chance to see it. He forwarded our email to Antoineta and there we were...getting to see it. Dara, a post-doc offiliated with the Cerro Tolol telescope on the next mountain, had been working in La Serena for 6 months and hadnīt got a chance to see Gemini. This was all very special. Even Fran and Tom (who were going to pose as swedish astronomy students) enjoyed it.
We arrived at the top of the mountain. It turned out that the 8m mirror
travelled thousands of kilometers from France, to arrive only a few miles off
from the site to find that a small tunneled bit in the road was too tight for
it. They had to wait for the tunnel to be expanded. But it was all worth it.
The dome was quite impressive up on a dry and desolate mountain, scattered
with cactus and shrubs. The dome is HUGE! We were taken inside and it was very
impressive. Engineers were doing tests on the rotational movements. The huge
telescope moves like silk on its arms. Because of the tests, the 8m mirror was
covered ( OH! :( ) The whole dome is supposed to open us as well.
Unfortunately they werenīt going to open it all for us. But we did get to go
down stairs to see the coating chamber. Apparently the locals thought it was a
UFO when it was been brought up the mountain. It sort of looks like a saucer
with a lid. Anyway the whole tour was a fantastic experience and definitely
worth some jealousy points!
See photos of Ken at Gemini taken by Antoineta.
We caught the night bus back to santiago. The cheapest one we found was
for $3500 (A$10.50) and the bus company was called "CIKTUR". Well the dare was
on from Fran and Tom so we had to get the cik bus back to santiago.
From : Linn
We survived the cik bus!
Important things to do today: change some money into Bolivianoīs and go see Harry Potter. Well the latter was far more important. It had been out since the 29th November...what have i been doing?? well all the sessions in La Serena were dubbed, but alas! (sorry have been reading the Lord of the Rings too much...Oh lo!) Well loved the movie! they did it very well. Hogwarts was very well done and Hagrid was pretty convincing I thought. B (who hasnīt even read the book! yes i know there are still some!!!!OH!!!) enjoyed it though but was getting annoyed with me every time i got excited about a bit that was coming up. Now iīm trying to read the first book in spanish...yeah right, i canīt get past the first page. Bīs trying to read the Silver Chair by CS LEWIS, in spanish. itīs quite funny actually. he sits there with the paperback, as well as the dictionary, the phrase book, a pencil, rubber and eraser. itīs not progressing too quickly.
Off to Bolivia we go.
From : Linn