Dull Balcony Shots

I only venture into the cold to earn my pesos at the Chocolate Teapot Factory this time of year. Photo taking is restricted to shots from the balcony. Here are some dull ones.


I told you they were dull.

No News

We don't seem to get out of the house much anymore, so here's the Diminutive One having 40 winks on the sofa.

Alfonso Hits the Big One

Alfonso threw a large birthday party ! Alfonso is The Diminutive One's nephew.

Peluqueria Francesa

Went for a meal with these two last week. Somehow, we managed to secure our own private VIP room at the back of a relatively fancy eatery. The place was stuffed full of antiques, all for sale said Thom. Thom also complained that he never featured on the blog, so now, along with his better half Maria, he has reached a world wide audience of say, thirteen?
The Diminutive One looks splendid here, don't you think?

4 Blocks

On a rare bright, sunny day, The Diminutive One and I took a stroll along Pedro de Valdivia. In the space of about 4 blocks we saw the following sprayed on walls. Apparently, Punk is not dead. Also, gay sailors like graffiti. Jesus lives.

On the way home we both stopped to look at a big newish apartment block, with a fancy roof. It took me about 10 seconds to realise that I lived in that big newish building, though not in the fancy roof. It's amazing what you can see when the smog lifts.

New Boots on the 11th Floor

I hate the word "musing", although not as much as the word "musings". In the world of Blogs this must surely be the most overused of words. Fifteen minutes surfing usually unearths several "musings", sometimes coupled in an unholy alliance with "thoughts and musings". A typical example would be

"The thoughts and musings of an unstable Gemini". Oh do shut up.

There is a certain arrogance in writing a blog. It assumes that people are interested in what you have to say. In the case of The Empanada it was just seemed a lot quicker than writing group e mails and avoided the usual question of "What's Chile like?" . The counter at the bottom of this website just goes to show how many people have stumbled across this website while looking for recipes.

I'm afraid I don't have any new photos to post. After the photo fest of weddings and Australia it has all gone a bit dry. A grey, polluted, slightly soggy Santiago does not lend itself to fascinating photos. I was tempted to post a snap of my new, especially imported Doc Marten's boots, but this struck me as slightly desperate (and was also a bit "I am three - do you like my new wellies?"). I took a nice photo of The Diminutive One in the lift the other day, although I am thinking of expanding it into a series of lift shots. As I live on the 11th floor (with a bearded stoner, little rich girl dog lover and mute pregnant lady) I tend to spend considerable time in the lift. From 1 to 11 is about 10 seconds, minimum 20 seconds per day, minimum 2 minutes per week. That's more than three hours a year. Hard to believe and fascinating stuff.

Photos of my new boots in the lift to follow shortly.

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.......