Hotel Dacarlo Santiago

... to send back and put them into a box Duncan had picked up from the side of the road. The contents included: an A4 ring-bound booklet of sample wedding photos; Spanish grammar exercise books; various electrical cables and instruction manuals that came with all the goods that Ben had brought over to Argentina; 3 paintings; the old camera; DVDs of photos taken in Argentina; Christmas presents for the Coleshills.

En route to Valparaiso, they stopped off at the Chilean post office in the ...

... and ask questions later! It appears that some of the delights on the plate were cow intestines (nicely platted and grilled), not particularly pleasant if you ask me. Also there was "la mama de boca" (spelling?) which translates to cow udder (mammary of the cow!)....and to be honest it was quite yummy!
With full stomachs we took a walk through the town centre. Here we stopped to watch a street performer…standing out from the crowd we immediately drew attention from the ...

... local malls, including one dedicated to sport (which even has an artificial wave for surfing!), visited the pueblo de los dominicoes (a handcrafts mini village), and had two of the best days of the holiday so far (see further down). I was also treated to a few freshly made Pisco Sours by Marcela. These were good! I hope I can have some more when I return in summer!?? It was that night that we turned up to a birthday party, at a time I thought was pretty late, 1am ...

... are closed on Sunday, even restaurants. It was hard to find a place to eat lunch. I did manage to see an art exhibit at the MAC museum at the Quinta Normal. The exhibit was, I think, from a Brazilian art contest. It was strange, but still a good way to pass some time. One exhibit was an arrangement of stones from various parts of Chile, some underneath a heating blanket we were encouraged to sit upon ...

... the fines master so he couldn’t afford to stay in bed!

Fines:

Horse – Tree Goat, stealing hot dogs, kicking fence

Jack - falling on ski lift

Fran - falling on ski lift, going to bed early

Fitzy -

We ended up hammered!Horse falls asleep sitting up & we ended up playing Bucaroo we bottle tops, bottles, cards and anything lying around.Wasn’t a happy bunny when he woke up!We videoed the whole thing too with his camera!

... recommendation from Arturo. I do not believe anything he says anymore. It was OK, I think I prefer a plain shandy, the orange flavour doesn´t add much to the beer. The food came out: a plate of really greasy chips with chunks of beef on top. Hmmmm. Not something I would consider ´lunch´, but I ate a few chips out from under the meat. Sometimes being vego is good because it can save you from having to eat food like that! Arturo ...

... by, we were gettin seriously bored and thought what the hell how hard can the boats be. The answer to that question is seriously *************a nearly had a fit she was laughin so hard at me tryin to avoid hittin other boats and the bank (neither of which I managed to do very well) it was like bumper cars at an amusment park except we were in a boat in a lagoon, dont think everyone else found it as funny as us. Catriona even ...

March 2-6 Monday: Michael's first day teaching! I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have a husband that is totally willing to try something he has never done before and something that is so far removed from what he usually does back home. Pretty cool guy... anyway, his first day was good... he's working with 1st through 6th grades for now, and will also teach 7th-12th grades once they hire an upper grades English teacher. He basically goes from ...

... for a 0240 flight to Purto Natales in Patagonia where I have finally found a place windier than Cliffoney! I'm wearing two sets of thermals under my clothes and I'm still not quite in the warm category... this is the Patagonian summer and it's freezing with a biting icy wind! I'm off on a 5 day hike tomorrow, followed by a 2 day ice-kayaking and boat adventure... I'll be in touch when I have defrosted enough to write about it!

... who suggested some things to do in Santiago and told us about their crazy adventures. All those in New Zealand, do the canyon drop, just make sure you are wearing disposable underpants! The plan for the rest of the week is to get a little more organised, check out downtown Santiago and then head to the beach for a day trip or two. Love to you all from the Bek and Jesse train. Peace out!