About Last Weekend...

Only $180 USD!

This man is no friar.

Hey, everybody.  What's up?  So last weekend here (end of October) was a sandwich holiday.  All Saints Day (Nov.1) is a national holiday, so everyone had Monday & Tuesday off.  Naturally, that meant it was time to get down on it.  We heeded the call and then some.

Fire bad, sausage good!

Just outside of Santiago there was an Oktoberfest celebration.  Of course, this had a great deal of appeal.  We sampled an immoderate amount of delicious beer and food from Chile and beyond.  It was massive; there must have been tens of thousands of people in attendance, and that was only Saturday (it went from Thursday-Tuesday).  We had such a good time that on returning to Santiago we continued the carrete with some other gringos we went with.  As if that weren't enough, a late-night dance party ensued in the Patronato neighborhood (just across the river) into the wee hours.  Our friends, Canudo & Dominique, were kind enough to put up with that thing I (Matt) call dancing (fists up, eyes closed, lip bitten) and bring me along.

To quote Brandon, "A symphony of yes!"

While a Sunday spent re-cooping would be the norm, we had other engagements; Charlie had invited us to his family's house north of the city.  His wonderful family hosted us for the following 2 nights. On the first night, Charlie and his brother, Lawrence, cooked up some slamming pernil (pork shoulder).  I can believe that I ate the whole thing.

Valpo'

Chupe de Locos

The next day, Charlie, Vale, Sara, and I went to Valparaiso.  This city is recognized as a world heritage location.  It is beautiful; the hills leading to the Pacific are covered in unique, colorful houses and there are many galleries, cafes, and restaurants.  Unfortunately, it would seem that most of Chile had the same idea as it took about 3 hours to find a place where we could eat.  A major highlight was the chupe de locos, a cheesy chowder made of a Chilean shellfish, the loco.  Afterwards, we went to Vale's beach house a ways north for more food.  Her parents had excellent camaron y queso (shrimp and cheese) empanadas, steak, fresh-baked bread, and vegetable salads.  I didn't think I should eat more, but as Charlie told me, "What is more water to a fish?"

The place is loaded with great street art

We got back to Santiago late the next day after sitting on the patio at Charlie's pretty much all day (a very nice way to spend a Tuesday).  It was a long weekend, but full of good times, good people, and good pets (Charlie has lots of dogs and cats).  Two days later, I started on a trek to summit Cerro El Plomo.  More on that in a coming post.

Not even half of the dogs at Charlie's.

Sweet park-job, Charlie.

One of many funiculars in Valpo'

Two final notes: 1) NYC is now 2 hours behind Santiago, and 2) if you want to see any of the images in a larger size, just click on them.

Creepin' in the Valpo' Plaza