Back in our comfortable and friendly hostel we met up with Charlie again telling him our tales from the last couple of days. The plan for that evening was a few drinks at Charlies place followed by a meal out and then off to see his flat mate who played in a band. So we enjoyed a few beers at Charlies flat while tucking into some Twistos (like a nicer version of bacon fries and very nice). He then asked his flatmates if they could recommend somewhere to eat and they definitely came up trumps.
A TRADITIONAL SCRAM
We got to JJ Cruze with not a gringo in sight, only locals. It was a small place, simply decorated in plain paper but they had allowed people to graffiti on the walls so it was covered in peoples various messages and declarations of love etc. We sat down and we’re not sure if Charlie actually ordered anything as no menus were passed out, we then received our drinks and waited for the main course. This apparently is a Chilean traditional meal called Chorillana, we were all given a fork each and then the meal came on one plate ready for us all to devour. I suppose it is like a shared platter that you may get at home, the bottom layer was chips, followed by a layer of fried onions mixed with scrambles eggs and then topped off with beef strips with a gravy on. Now this may not sound too tasty but we did manage to polish it off, bar a few chips, and really enjoyed it. It did worry us that Charlie thought that there maybe a gap in the market for this kind of food at home, but in the end we agreed that rather than a gastro pub it would be better suited for a good stodgey meal after a night out on the booze!!!
AND A TRADITIONAL CHILEAN DRINK
We then headed to Dominico 25, the club that Charlies flat mate was playing (sorry can’t remember his name), however it seemed that we were a little too early as the place was dead so we headed back to Pio Nono for a happy hour beer, settling for massive litre glasses before heading back to the club.
CHILEAN FOLK
We then enjoyed some South American folk music for a few hours and out of all the bands Charlies flat mate was definitely the best and had us tapping our feet and nodding our heads. After Charlies flat mate had finished we headed back but unfortunately had to go along Pio Nono on the way back, well you can guess what happened yes just another couple of drinks while Charlie and Dylan got friendly with the bar man. It was then definitely time to call it a night so we headed back picking up some empanadas from a food stall on the way back, definitely liking the Chilean food.
A DAY IN THE CENTRE
We had planned to meet Charlie at the hostel the next day so he could show us the sights of Santiago. Charlie was on time, only to find me recently showered trying to drag Dylan out of bed. 30 minutes later and we were ready to go. We headed to the centre of Santiago getting some pictures of Cathedral Metropolitan at Plaza de Armas and half heartedly doing some shopping, only one of us managed to buy in the end and that was Charlie who got a beard trimmer to tame his gringo whiskers!! We then decided we needed some rehydration and Charlie introduced us to yet another delicacy of Chile, a Mota, this consists of a few spoonfulls of barley, a few pieces of peaches, topped up with peach juice – very tasty and just the thing for a hang over!
CAFES AND BEGGARS
We then sat ourselves down on a bench to watch the world go round for a moment, Charlie pointing out the dodgy cafés and some beggars (Dylan: The ‘dodgy cafes’ are actually an excellent concept, basically these are coffees with darkened window [obviously as it gets really sunny in Santiago] and the staff are all wearing very short skirts and revealing tops [obviously women that is – anything else just wouldn’t be cricket!]). Now when we say beggars these are not like the normal poor beggars you see but are in fact football supporters begging for money for the next football match!!! (Dylan: unbelievable these cheeky scrounging gits stand there wearing their colours with a flag of choice on the floor and idiots throw money on the flag – for the sole purpose of supporting these lazy layabouts to watch the next match! Eventually I insisted we moved before I found the translation for get a job you toss-pots!).
SIESTA
After the walk and food we all felt extremely rough so decided to call it a day and arranged to meet later for some food, Dylan and I wandered back for a chill and had a relax. Charlie turned up later and we all admitted that we still felt a little rough and agreed to a quiet night which we managed to do apart from a bottle of wine with soft drinks.
A MEAL TO KILL
We headed off for something to eat and came across a guy in a window BBQ’ing a mass of meat, we decided that this would be either a brilliant experience or a terrible one and agreed to take the gamble. It was a busy place and we grabbed the last free table and while looking through the menu decided on the parilla for 3. This plate consisted of 2 steaks, a rack of ribs, 3 chorizo sausages, 2 nutty black pudding sausages (morcilla), a couple of stuffed chicken breasts, rice and avocado and tomato salad. We decided that this should be enough to fill us up and ordered a bottle of red to go with it.
When the meal came I was surprised with the size of it (Dylan: Having re-read the description about I’m truly shocked anyone could be surprised when a monstrous plate of food arrives!!!!), the meat came piled on top of a metal plate which was stood on a metal bowl full of hot coals to keep everything warm.
The food, thankfully was great, (H-I even enjoyed the nutty black pudding, really tasty) and we sat munching away while sipping our red and watching a few musicians who had come in to play hoping for a couple of kleggys. It was a really god meal and I couldn’t believe it but we managed to finish off the whole thing although we were all a little full afterwards!
After our fine meal we decided that we would call it a night for that evening (yes you heard right we actually had an early, nearly booze free night), we said goodbye to Charlie and headed off to the hostel, and for once we were not the last people to go to our bed in the dorm!!!!
CLIMBING FOR A VIEW OF SANTIAGO – Cerro San Cristobal
Bright eyed and bushy tailed we were up in the morning ready to go, we had heard that to get the best views of the city you needed to visit Cerro San Cristobal. Off we trudged and within minutes came across the city wide river Rio Mapocho – the water here comes straight from the Andes and it didn’t look inviting at all!
The mountain is an enormous hill topped by a statue of Mary The Blessed Virgin, blessing all those at the base of Her feet, the peoples of Santiago. The summit of the Cerro is 860 meters above sea level, and almost 300 meters above the rest of the city.
We set off up the hill with a small bottle of water each and although only a couple of k’s as the crow fly’s we seem to have walked 8-10k up the winding roads with the sun blasting on the asphalt and stone roads… the water lasted 10 minutes whilst the walk took nearer a week!
When we arrived at the top we were welcomed with an awe-inspiring view in many ways: the height, the view of all the valleys, the vegetation v the lack of, the waves of heat v the cool breezes, hills and the Andes Mountains. The statue of the Virgin Mary stands nearly 15 meters looking over the people of Santiago.
This pure white spiritual icon mesmerises all who came to Her feet. Hidden speakers play soft music all around creating a really serene atmosphere. There is also a chapel for services, weddings and other functions.
After our wondrous walk up the hill we decided we’d treat ourselves to the cable-car back down. Eventually locating the place to purchase a ticket we then tried to work out if we’d gone and bought a return and figured it was worth it rather than walk back down anyway!
Whilst on the way down the cable car (after scoffing somewhat of Helen’s fear every time the car went over the pylon joins and the pod juddered) we observed some fantastic sights. From this vantage point you can easily see the contrast between the more affluent and poorer areas of Santiago; from the slum-type housing on one side to the swimming pool included pads on the other. The trip didn’t take to long although we soon realised once we are at the bottom that we were actually at the opposite side of the mountain from where we’d started!
We then had a 5-6k walk back to the hostel walking along the afore-mentioned river and stumbling along a sculpture park which helped to break up unplanned walk!
SWEDES, SECRETS AND DRINKS
After our walk and a bit of a freshen up we were ready for another evening. Charlie came along in the evening, he had been at a BBQ for the day and was already a little ahead of us in the drinking stakes. We caught up in the hostel’s bar while Charlie and Dylan oggled a Dutch blonde who had arrived that day (Dylan: actually, just to set the record straight, she was one of a group of 3 Swedish lasses and the one under discussion happened to be the one I’d chatted to about travelling and when it came up that she was a Doctor back home I had to mention this to Charlie… etc.).
GAMES OF DRINKING
And then we went back out to Pio Nono where we were meeting some English friends of Charlies. They were at the same University as Charlie in Santiago and from all over Britain as well as an American and I don’t think Charlie will mind us saying but they were a little posh!!! (Dylan: guffaw guffaw guffaw – although they were fun they were running the risk of being characateurs of themselves!) Charlie didn’t point them out and we had to guess who they were, they were sat outside the bar with a couple of jugs of lager and shot glasses, not hard to spot. The idea of the game was you have a shot of lager every minute and to their credit most of them were keeping up, they were however all smashed!! We ordered a jug of beer to share and a mixed patter of empanandas to tame our hunger and started chatting with these guys, they were a lot of fun but within an hour or so we realised that the amount they were drinking between the 8 of them was not vast (we had shared a couple of jugs between the 3 of us whilst sat with them – i.e. virtually equalling their consumption over the time we were there and the previous hour or so), however they were all extremely sloshed!!
OFF TO THE CLUB
We said our goodbyes to the lads as we were off to meet Charlies secret love, a beautiful girl from Chile who was going out with his friend and therefore untouchable (that’s honour for you 🙂 ). We took a taxi, not exactly sure where we were going, only knowing that the club was in the posh area of the city. Arriving in the general area we disembarked the taxi and Charlie asked a passer by for directions; the guy said he wasn’t sure and then demanded a tip for his help! As you can imagine Charlie didn’t give him any money and we all had a comment or two to pass on the subject!
CLOSE SHAVE
While wandering the men were both in need of the loo so we ended up stopping at a nice looking bar for one, Charlie headed to the loo while we ordered what we thought we was happy hour/special priced beer, just before she opened the bottles Charlie returned and realised that we had in fact ordered ‘special’ imported lager and probably the most expensive bottles in the place, saved just in time!!
I’m not sure how but we managed to find the club, it had a cool little bar at the front with tables, chairs and sofas to chill out in and then the dance floor at the back was packed. We got a free drink with our entrance, Dylan choosing gin and I had a mini bottle of sparkly. We spent the next couple of hours having a dance and then said goodbye to Charlies friends (and very pretty secret love) and grabbed one last drink. We then sat down and I lectured Charlie about how he should tell this girl (her bloke was leaving in a month or so and didn’t sound like he was a great guy), however we came to the conclusion that Charlie was too honourable and would just love from afar. It was then time to call it a night and we grabbed a taxi back to the plaza saying goodbye to Charlie.
I was peckish and insisted on a pizza on the way home, it wasn’t the best pizza of all time but at the time I thought it was great (in fact it was pretty gross: a piece of dough with a bit of tomato and a piece of sliced cheese plonked in the middle!!!)
BAG SNATCHED
Dylan: Well with the night over (or certainly as much as Helen can recall) we sett off across the road before getting to a side street to take us to our hostel when we moved aside to allow a group of fighting footy fans past. Just as they passed and we were about to cross the road someone just caught my shoulder and pushed me a little aside; a split second later someone came from the other side and grabbed the shoulder bag (NO This wasn’t a man-bag!! lol!!). I instinctively turned and was just about to set after the tosser when someone launched off the fence and asked where I was going – I got the distinct feeling this wasn’t a question but more of a statement so responded “nowhere” and turned to check Helen hadn’t choked to death on her pizza. As I turn Helen’s stood with a pizza in one hand and the bag with a broken lead in the other stating (too loudly) “It’s OK they forgot the bag”, so after grabbing H’s arm and rushing back to the hostel all was actually OK!!
Helen, glorious in recovery…
THE LAST DAY IN SANTIAGO
Not much happened through the day, Helen was feeling a little rough and I was still fuming about the bag (which Helen couldn’t even remember – lol!!).
We met up with Charlie later on for a ‘last supper’ together and searched high and low for a café Charlie had been recommended from his, thus far very reliable, flatmates. Unfortunately Charlie wasn’t paying too much attention to the directions in his rush to meet up with us and we walked up and down a few streets seeing if any café names may trigger a sparkle of recollection. Alas we couldn’t find the café and opted for a decent looking pizzeria we’d stumbled across!
Whilst some local nutter passed to and fro on his roller blades singing tunes to his iPod with the occasional crazy dance, I enjoyed a great pizza whilst H and Charlie opted for a monstrous calzole (although H and I swapped half and half) and a fruit juice – yep, a fruit juice, another alcohol free night 😉
We said our goodbye and thank you to Charlie for looking after us and headed off for an early night in preparation for an early morning and flight to Punta Arenas…
Dylan & Helen's Weblog 
now i’v stopped laughing i can type nobody would believe half the things if they didnt know you both
So, it appears that your time in Chile was spent conveniently finding Happy Hours again (they seem to follow you don’t they?!), and ordering huge amounts of food and being ‘surprised’ that you eat it all! Haha! Sounds like you’re having a fab time though xx