Iquique Baquedano

Right in the middle of Iquique is this amazing pedestrian street. It's got a wooden boardwalk and is lined by these ramshackle wooden houses. In parts it looks like a film set, but seeing as some of them are falling down, it just about feels real. We took these early on a Saturday morning so the place was empty. I have to admit that turning the corner from a regular street into this really stopped me in my tracks. Good job it's pedestrian then really......


Somewhere round here we stopped for an empanada. In Santiago they tend to be small dainty things with crusts, although here they are big fried knobbly dinosaur looking beasts and are served at the same temperature as the core of the earth. I had a jaiba (crab) one then walked home sideways. Good job it's pedestrian really.......

A Thousand Yoghurts

In February 2006 Niall and I undertook a jaunt to Arica in the north of Chile. We got a collectivo shared taxi across the border to Peru. Unfortunately, we both got a seriously bad dose of Arequipa's revenge and spent about four days in the bathroom. We were lucky enough to be visited by a friendly Peruvian doctor, who, at first, threatened to take us into hospital. A mild improvement the following day kept us out of the Arequipa Infirmary, largely thanks to some pills that had "the power of a thousand yoghurts".
Once we were back on our feet we headed back south to Chile. The Peruvian border town, Tacna, is a small quiet place, where I took this picture.

Pichilemu - Life's a Beach

Pichilemu is a windblown coastal town a few hours south from Santiago. We set out for a walk on Sunday morning, walking along the beach into town. It was pretty nippy when we started but I managed to get burned to a crisp later. For the next few days I had that slightly scarey glow about me. They hold the Chilean surfing championships somewhere round here.

The 18th September - Nice to MEAT you

September the 18th in Chile is a big deal. In 1810 there was some kind of revolt, ultimately leading to independence from Spain. Chileans today choose to celebrate this by going to fondas. The concept of a fonda is quite tricky to explain. I went to two, a nice sedate one in posh Providencia, and then later to an altogether different kind of bash in Parque O'Higgins. Both have one thing in common - both are in parks and you can eat a lot of meat and drink in public. There's lots of dancing, staggering and bbq ing. There's meat on a stick everywhere - anticuchos - and if you get bored of that you can switch to sausages. The fonda in O'Higgins reminded me of a rock festival, without the rock. There were a million stalls selling cooked meat and so much smoke you could see it from space apparently, well, maybe. If you've ever been to a fonda you can expect dogs to follow you around for a good few weeks after.

I was told that this is the only time of year that you can drink in public, although many people elaborate on this by just drinking anywhere. A woman on the radio was complaining that she doesn't see her husband for the two days of the national holiday. This year was particularly bad as there were actually 4 days off because of the weekend. Judging by the bloke we drove around on the motorway wandering home (in the slow lane to be fair to him) there were many who may have over indulged. One diminutive Chilean I know did her bit to eat a whole cow over the four days, at the fondas and at the big feed up we threw in her house. See pics.

Iquique - down by the sea...

They seem pretty worried about a tsunami in Iquique. This sign is down right next to the port, helpfully pointing inland rather than out to sea. There are signs all over the town too, letting you know if this particular corner would be under water or not. The area has regular earthquakes, and seeing as a lot of houses are built on sand, this is worrying. I asked a guy about building regulations and he looked at me like I was a bit simple.

Valpo

Valparaiso is the big port about an hour from Stgo. As with most ports it can be a bit dodgy, although it's great for a day trip. The houses crawl up the hillside from the port below. To save walking up some pretty steep hills you can take one of the many ascensores. These are a kind of lift, most of which are like large plywood boxes on rails. I have a feeling some of them were last serviced in 1899, but as the 'journey' usually takes about 45 seconds you don't have time to worry about it. It's also the only time Chileans won't fight for a seat. I hear the Germans walk up because you can't book in advance.
Lots of the houses are seemingly built of corrugated iron and are often painted bright colours. On New Year's Eve thousands pitch up on the top of the hills to watch the firework display. It's bloody impressive.

' im and 'er

Everywhere we go we take these self portraits. These four are; bloody freezing in Boca, Buenos Aires.
/burning on the beach in Pichilemu, Chile /
top of the E. Tower in Paris the day we lost to Barcelona in the Champs Lge final May 17th 06 / on the phone!

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires

This is the cemetery right in the middle of the city, full of posh tombs and cats. Bloody cats everywhere. It's a spooky place. Meme loved peering into the mausoleums, I avoided the cats. Eva Peron is buried here.

The Diminutive Chilean

The polola, the other half, the jefa, head of the committee, 'er indoors, the novia, you get the picture.......

Me Pics 2006

I'd like to say that my hair grew back and that I am currently thin and fit looking, but it didn't and I'm not! Doing ok though........Here's a few pics from 2006.

Iquique Ghost Towns

A couple of weekends ago we jetted up to Iquique in the north of Chile, two hours and a cheese and ham sandwich away from Santiago, courtesy of LAN and a couple of free flights (M works for LAN).

The city is by the sea, backed by the desert. They used to mine nitrates - it must have been hell on earth in that heat - and now there are these "ghost towns" out in the desert. They were abandoned in 1960.


I suppose, as one wanders around a place like this, you start to imagine what it would have been like to have lived there, although, to be honest, I was more concerned with whether or not my factor 60 sunblock was up to the job of protecting my lillywhite Brit skin. I could get burnt by the light in the fridge........

Anyway, this place Humberstone had a theatre, a hotel, square (Plaza de Armas), bakery. Up to 3000 people lived and worked there at one stage. It ws a model town, with a swimming pool made out of cast iron, pinched from a shipwreck in Iquique harbour.

The sunblock worked, although when we got back in the minivan my insides cooked.

The New Empanada!

Welcome to the new Cheese Empanada!

In order to save on group e mails I've decided to take my what have you been up to - not much to a whole new level. In one swift posting I will now be able to enlighten you all on what's going on here in Santiago de Chile, although "what time is it there?" questions will have to wait.........

So, why The Cheese Empanada? In a country that must rival only Argentina for the consumption of meat (there must be a million less cows after the fondas of last month - enough bbq ing to blot out the sun), the cheese empanada and me are on very familiar terms. It's a kind of cheese pasty, although the quantity and quality of cheese can vary. Oh the wonders of modern technology, here I am discussing a cheese pasty.

So, in an attempt to keep everyone up to date on news here, and in an attempt to shake off an ill founded reputation for techno fear with Maria (just for the record - Maria / Meme / the diminutive Chilean = all the same person), here's a blog - The Cheese Empanada - the quantity and quality may vary.