Pirque United

In the insane week in March that led up to the bells of wedding, we managed a stress free day in Pirque. It is literally where the countryside meets the city. There is a private park, which of course was almost completely deserted on a Tuesday.

A top quality picnic and kick about was had by all.

These two odd types took the pictures.

Towl Jnr does the lambada.

Look, no double chin.

Tongue of Cat

Here we see The Diminutive One demonstrating the origins of the "Tongue of Cat" cookie. Look at the fear in my eyes. This picture was taken a while ago. Since then she has further developed her impressions and now does a very good lizard.

LAN World Cup

Maria took part in the LAN football World Cup, playing for the Call Centre team. LAN flew in poorly paid co-workers from around the world, to take part in a seven-a-side competition. Here we see the "hardcore" section of the CallCentre support.Thirteen teams took part in the competition, with all teams having at least five games. "Call Center" select 7 were somewhat hampered by a slightly erratic approach to tactics (see below), a four foot keeper, a total lack of fitness, and never having played together before. Considering this, they gave a few teams a good run for their money. When the Mrs was given a "and that's your last young lady, any more of that and you'll be off!" warning, from a wet luttuce of a referee, I could nod approvingly on the sidelines.

An opening 5-0 defeat against a tall, thin Peru team did nothing to dent confidence, as "The Mean Machine" went on to get a three all draw in the next game. The most unlikely goal, from the half-way line in injury time no less, snatched a draw from the jaws of victory. Had they not adopted a 1-1-4 formation at 2-0 up then who knows what might have happened?

Here we see The Diminutive One celebrate a goal against a fat team from "Corporate"

A hummdinger of a defeat against the USA wrapped up the tourno, and prompted a mad dash to the stalls that were giving away free brownies and crisps. I hadn't seen them move that fast in two days.......

Con Con

Here we see the Mrs taking self portraits on the balcony of our "four star" apartment in ConCon. We had a free weekend by the sea, courtesy of the department store where we had the wedding list. For each purchase we got points, the more points, the more prizes! Let's see what you've won......!

The place was right by the sea, and we got a couple of free lunches thrown in. If you bought us some glasses, or a blender, I thank you, as it was great to get out of the city and get the Mrs wasted on pisco on a Friday night.

Now that is the way to read the Sunday paper, isn't it? These folks were on the beach in Reñaca.

Maitencillo

Maitencillo, just along the coast from ConCon, was bloody freezing. The Diminutive One managed to bypass the fresh fish and smell out the one open jewellery store, probably within a 100 square mile radius.

On a grey, cold, damp Saturday afternoon, the only decent thing to do is retire to a posh restaurant and get slightly overcharged for grilled corvina. This was later washed down by seven (s)quids worth of fresh coffee and kuchen, a kind of apple cake.

Fancy a dip?

Drive Past Quillota

If you ever find yourself driving north up the coast from Viña in Chile, and you are looking for a place to stop, then Quillota isn't it. Not everywhere can be beautiful, obviously, but Quillota town centre beats the record for incontinent, 3 legged, mangy dogs and broken pavements. Half the town appears to have shut down and been graffiti'd. I saw a woman selling celery out of her car.

To be fair to the place, it's a working port. When we saw surfers in the dock our spirits were momentarily raised, although they were just pulling garbage out of the water. In true Quillota style, they piled up the water sodden trash like a little display.

The signs outside the seafood greasy spoons advertised the usual, although when I looked through the windows they were the kind of establishments where you would think twice before sitting down if you had a half-decent pair of trousers on. And I'm from Telford.

Fun in the Sun

I am a shadow of my former self after getting married...........

Before & After

Officially

You will have to indulge me on this one. So far no complaints about so many wedding snaps on the blog (this might have something to do with a world wide readership of 12), although I fear wedding fatigue may be approaching. We got the "official" pics back from the fella yesterday, so I've pasted up a handful. They tend to follow the same pattern as all the others - her in dress, me in suit. She did look a million dollars though. I was fast approaching the eighty-seven quid mark myself, which is a step up from being a no-mark I suppose. Or maybe Primark, anyway, I digress.

Hope you like them.

So, to recap.........

This serves no other purpose than to remind me of all the stuff that has gone on in the last 18 months. From 4 days in a bathroom in Peru, to 4 stars on an Australian honeymoon, or the Christmas day pool, a Sunday at the market, getting burned on the beach, or eating myself to death in Argentina.

New Magazine

New publication, for those interested.