Lunch with our Chilean friend

Trip Start Jul 09, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Today we went out for lunch with our only Chilean friend, Ivan. He's the guy who actually inspired us to come down here. His company is using AX and wanting to upgrade their software. He is really nice and really wants to help us get settled here. He took us out to a local restaurant. I think I had my perfect meal. It was a whole plate of melted cheese covered with arugula and tomato. But... not just any old cheese. This was actually reindeer cheese. They were so worried that I wouldn't like it that they even brought a piece out for me to try before I could order it. I assured them that if it was really just cheese I would eat it. It was really nice, but I do think I've had enough cheese for a few days now. Might take a break from it. It tasted like a really strong sheep/goat cheese.

There were loads of business people having lunch as well. It was nice to see them having a glass of wine or beer with lunch. Of course this is a typical sight in Australia or England, but definitely something not seen too often in the US.

Ivan's English is pretty good, certainly much better than our Spanish. We had a nice conversation and he asked us out for dinner and dancing on Saturday night with his wife and out to the beach with his family the following weekend. Yes it's winter, so hopefully he doesn't mean swimming at the beach.

That afternoon we arranged to look at a few apartments. We are staying in the hotel until Monday but have to work something out after that. The first apartment was right in the middle of Las Condes and really could be in any city in the world. It's just in the middle of a bunch of high rises.

The second apartment was in an area called Bellavista. The apartment was really nice. It was on the top floor of a building (lvl 23). But it was just too small for us and then we found out it had no internet. The ad said it had internet, but they classify a computer in the lobby on the first floor as having internet access. So no go. The balcony had a great view though looking out over the river from a dizzying height.

So we headed down into the main street of Bellavista for dinner. OMG... it was so cool there. They call it the bohemian area and it totally is. I felt like I was walking down the middle of the Moulin rouge set... Complete with weirdos in weird dress. The buildings are all painted different colours and it just has a very rustic feel. We found a nice restaurant and this time Mark found his perfect meal. Steak covered in a couple of fried eggs with chips. It's a Chilean staple so he's happy about that. :-)
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