Santiago
Trip Start
Sep 11, 2008
1
78
87
Trip End
Jun 05, 2009
Santiago, Chile
Sunday, May 10, 2009
We went round the Patronato, the clothes district with a hangover after drinking Pisco the first night. We went to the Starwars exhibition which was brilliant, loads of costumes and models from all six films, including the original Darth Vader and Boba Fett ones. We went up Cerro San Cristobal, the main hill in the centre of the city, by cable car and down by funicular. The incredible layer of smog which covers the city daily was even more apparent on the way up there. The city is ringed by the Andes so it gets trapped in a bowl, a grim sight. You can see further at night towards the city centre from Emmaīs apartment than during the day as the lights just about get through the smog. We saw the Moneda where the President Salvador Allende ĻdiedĻ during the military coup which saw Pinochet gain power in the 70īs. We went to the central fish market a couple of times and ate there, a massive plate of raw shellfish, and bought food for dinner as well. We went to find Lucys old flat in Barrio Brasil which brought back memories for her. We also headed out to Pirque, home of the famous Concha y Toro vineyards, to visit Lucys old flatmate from Santiago, Tanya.
We didnīt visit the vineyards at Pirque as the day before we went out to the Cousino-Macul one which is much smaller and less touristy. They produce 3 million bottles a year compared to 250 million at Concha y Toro. The place looked just like Newmarket with tall oak trees and horses inside white fences. The visit was cool, just the two of us and a guide. It is more a museum, only the top quality wines are made there in small amounts, the rest at a plant elsewhere, but we did see the very last grapes of the year being sorted and put into a fermentation tank just as we arrived. We got to try some nice wines, got some free snacks as we were the only ones there and the guide was cool, and got to keep the tasting glasses which I am now carefully carrying round South America.
We went out to Franklin, a suburb of the city, to a flea market. Emma suggested it to get us out of the house on a Saturday as we had pretty much run out of things to do and our flight wasnīt for a few more days yet. Problem was she hadnīt been there for a few years and it has now turned from a flea market into a massive scally market like the one in Liverpool. Except the stuff is cheap in Liverpool.
On a Friday evening we went to the races at the Club Hipico de Chile. We had no idea what to expect, and got out the smartest clothes we have, which could never ever be considered as smart anywhere but at the Club Hipico de Santiago it seems. It was free to get in and the stand was an amazing classic European style, looking straight out of 19th century France or something. There were a few people there, most of who had been there since the start at 2pm and a lot of families. The races were roughly every 20 minutes with a total of 19 in all but we only saw about 8. It was more like the dogs in England than the races. We met up with Kamal and Emily again which was cool and all had a good time. As far as winners go though, we lost the first race then Sherlock Holmes won some money for us. I had just finished reading The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Lucy was now starting it, so that should have been an omen to lump on it. We put a grand each on. Pesos that is, about 1.15 in English money so we won an absolute fortune, 9000 Pesos. Next up was Bahia Dublin, another omen so we stuck our 3000 peso stake back on and won 12 grand. We had now made 20 grand (about 23 quid) and got the beers in for everyone, then lost the next 6 in a row. We didnīt lose out though and it was free to get in so we had about 4 hours fun and got a free beer out of it. After that we went for a great meal at a posh restaurant the name of which I have forgotten and will never remember.
I tried the Chilean speciality Charqui, which is like beef jerky but made of horse. It tasted like cardboard. We drank lots of wine from the supermarket, generally picking up the cheapest bottle we could find, for about a quid each time. Every single bottle was great. Why canīt we get cheap wine that tastes great in England?
