Sports Day ~ Part 1 ~ Kayaking the Pacífico

January 11, 2015

Today was the day to hit the water for some adventure. We had sat and watched the sea lions vying for the best sunny spot on an abandoned pier from shore at various times, so thought we'd get up close and personal with them. A little girl had pointed out to Rainer as we watched the other day, that they were called lobos marinos, or sea wolves. I pointed out that they stink....but if you stay upwind they're kinda cute, especially the Mom sleeping with her tail fin over her baby.

A relatively inexpensive jaunt at 2,000 pesos for a half hour ($4 each). The young girl assisting us was thrilled at her newly acquired sunglasses and Canada pin (and waved us out for some extra time).

Disclaimer : Objects in the camera lens are closer than they appear!

Santiago de Chile

January 12, 2015

Santiago is the capital and largest city of Chile and is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of 520 m (1,706 ft) above sea level.

Founded in 1541, Santiago has been the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city has a downtown core of 19th century neoclassical architecture and winding side-streets, dotted by art deco, neo-gothic, and other styles. Its cityscape is shaped by several stand-alone hills and the fast-flowing Mapocho River.

We had a 6 a.m. start to the day as we sleepily walked to the trolley and made our way to the central bus terminal where we purchased two, one-way bus tickets to Santiago, 70 miles inland.

Our coach was a nice, comfortable double-decker and we settled in for the one and a half hour ride. Almost immediately, as you leave Valparaíso, you can see the landscape changing as you move through the valleys and lush, vivid green vineyards. As you near the city itself, the majestic Andes mountains strike you and the temperature rises considerably from the cooler Valpo climate.

We arrived at our Parajitos connection to the Metro and rode to the Santa Lucía stop, where we knew we could catch the Hop On Hop Off bus for a tour of the city. We lucked out when we popped into a  hotel for a map and inquired about the bus. Not only did they have a map, but also sold the bus package (pass, map, earphones), gave us wifi access and sent us off on our merry way.

As we sat atop the double-decker we quickly realized how busy the city actually is and how much is happening. If cranes are any indication of economic development,  Santiago is booming. New roads, mammoth skyscrapers, new architecture blending in harmony with the historic (Hello Ottawa!), and subdivisions cropping up all over. Urban sprawl is definitely happening, albeit constrained by the Andes. 

Some things which impressed us included the tallest building in Latin America, the Gran Torre Santiago, several major universities, and that we got to experience the transportation infrastructure - the toll-based, partly underground freeway system and the Metro de Santiago, South America's most extensive subway system.

It was not until we had finished the tour and met up with our friends Fabio and Vicky that we really got a bird's eye view of Santiago in its entirety!

We had a late lunch at a really nice restaurant downtown (CHPE, acronym for Chile and Peru). We ordered Piscos and didn't realise that our lunch included both Piscos (in addition to what we ordered), and wine, so we had way more to drink than we may otherwise have. We toughed it out though, troopers that we are, and never wanting to succumb to a challenge. The steaks were amazing - up until now we've had mainly fish and seafood. Poor Fabio was the DD. There's zero tolerance for drinking and driving in Chile, no matter the age. All good.

After lunch we drove up to the top of San Cristóbal Hill lookout. Just incredible views of this huge metropolis, as the ascensor brought sightseers to and fro. It was a scorcher of a day.

We also toured through various neighbourhoods and finally to Vicky's beautiful condo. She was there during the major earthquake, 8.8 magnitude, of 2010 on the 21st (top) floor as the building swayed back and forth and the kitchen ceiling fell in around her. We can only imagine...but her condo does have breathtaking views!

We said our goodbyes to Vicky and hopped in with Fabio for a lift to Casablanca, where he had dropped us the week prior, to catch a bus back to Valpo, followed by a quick connection via trolley and ascensor home. Ain't transit grand (when it works, and it does here most of the time)?

Attached photos of construction (at the restaurant) showing beams built into brick walls, making them stronger to better withstand earthquakes. Also some pretty funky architecture happening!

Fare for one person:
Trolley - 250 Pesos (50 cents)
Bus to (Parajitos), Santiago - 5,100 Pesos ($10.20)
LRT/Metro to Santa Lucía - 600 Pesos ($1.20)
Hop On Hop Off tour bus - 20,000 Pesos ($40)
Bus from Casablanca to Valparaíso 1,300 Pesos ($2.60)

Spending the day in Santiago with friends, priceless...thanks Fabio and Vicky!

Sports Day ~ Part 2 ~ Santiago Wanderers Fútbol

January 11, 2015

Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers S.A.D.P., is a Chilean fútbol club based in Valparaíso. Founded on 15 August 1892, Wanderers is Chile's oldest football club, Primera División. Their home games are played at the Estadio Elías Figueroa (23,000 seats).

We caught wind of a game on Sunday evening so we delayed our trip to Santiago by a day to catch some of the excitement, just a short distance away. We invited Nick, a British traveller staying in the same airbnb to join us, so off went the three of us by micro bus (easy to spot which bus to catch, just hail the one crammed with green and white shirts).

We arrived at the stadium, lined up for tickets, and when we asked regarding seats and cost, I was told there were side seats and end seats. We chose side for better view of the game, also at a cost of a buck more, but soon realised, the real party was in the end zone (where we would have gotten more bang for our buck, literally).

We had expected a full house for the home game but were somewhat disappointed at the under half-filled stadium. Security is tight, no booze brought in or sold on site and no lighters or matches. As I was grilled over whether my lipstick was an incendiary device, there were people lighting up smokes all over the joint at the half, not to mention the flares and firecrackers being enjoyed by all in the end zone! I had also mused about no toilet paper in the washrooms but the mystery was solved after the first whistle to start the game and the festivities cranked up at the fun end where toilet paper in flight went careening into the crowd.

At the half we moved as close as we could to the party zone, and heard many of the same songs previously belted ot by the U de Chile fans last week.

The game itself was uneventful as the home team lost 1- 0, but the rest of the evening was entertaining. From the 'human coffee machine', vendor with scalding coffee pot strapped to his chest, to the dogs chasing each other in the stands, who didn't pay or get frisked for fire by the way, to the absolutely sardined-in post-partyers in returning buses, even the guy sitting in the bus' back stairwell, open door, blowing his horn as the bus squealed out of sight.

Things that make you go "Hmmm..."

Random smiles...

》Young guy getting off local bus with a 50k bag of flour
》Skinned sheep heads, eyeballs and all, in butcher window (I know, no photos required)
》Cat hopping back and forth over a huge bag of onions in the restaurant as the owner was dragging it through to the kitchen (cat a permanent inhabitant, along with the bunny). Wish I had a video, so cute!
》Cat napping in high stack of plastic salad bowls out on display in front of 'dollar' store
》Cat in closed store window on a Sunday...curled up between the clocks and things, higher end stuff...the cat's meow
》Getting on bus with a 10,000 pesos bill ($20 CDN), driver making change while navigating the treacherous turns, pulling various denominatons of bills from both his breast and pants pockets
》The short wait for the maintenance staff of LRT and trolleys to sweep the trolley and train before you get on at first stops
》Street entertainers at traffic stops and red lights - from jugglers, flag wavers, singers to the guy on the second biggest bike I'be ever seen - and Chileans of all ages are generous to them all, even going out of their way to get some loose change to them
》Foot pedal powered candy floss machine in park, who needs electricity anyway?
》Dog buried in sand at beach, hey it was a hot day...

Where we've been...

Disregard direction arrows.
Our path was from Lauderdale to Valparaíso.
December 4 - 20, 2014,  Celebrity Infinity

Playa Laguna Verde, Casablanca Valley Wine and Food Event

Yesterday we figured we'd find our own beach and had a plan to set out in search of Playa Laguna Verde, over the top of the mountain and waaaay down  the other side, by micro bus, you know, the crazy fun, entertaining buses here in the city. We walked to our former hood and caught a bus, which dropped us off at the side of a road in a 'not so lovely' neighbourhood. The driver instructed us to wait for the 520 to take us to the playa. Sure enough, it showed and got us right there, dropped us on a non-descript, corner where we walked down a dusty, dry dirt road to the beach, only to be passed in the opposite direction by the same 520 which could have dropped us directly there...no problema.

It's a really nice beach surrounded by mountains on one side, the mighty Pacific on the other, and with few tourists. Snapped a few shots here and also of the hairpin turn road we wound down to arrive alive. Spent a few hours sitting and walking along the beach before we wandered down the road and found a cute restaurant which served the second best meals we've had here (reinete (ray) battered and reinete with seafood sauce, some shrimp in parmesan cheese to start, lots of lemons, per usual and the customary Escudos to wash it all down). The return trip was simpler, but no less exciting, as we realized we could have caught the infamous 520 mere steps from our place. Ah, live and learn. The entire fare for two was under 6 bucks round trip, 25 miles or so each way, give or take.

We had seen advertising various places for a Casablanca Valley Food and Wine Show, which just happened to be at the end of an adjoining street, so we checked that out last night. For the equivalent of $12 each we sampled 3 wines and 2 foods (each). It was a beautiful warm breezy night on the promenade as the band played with the backdrop of the town and overlooking the port. A nice evening.

Today's another Guacamole Day! When you've got the stuff...made salsa last week as well. So fresh!

Fútbol

Sometimes words just don't do justice to the feeling you get when you connect with someone on a different level. Language doesn't need to be a barrier to communication, especially when it comes to sport and camaraderie.

The other day as we explored the streets, we could hear loud singing and cheering, not just loud, but top of your lungs booming, male voices, spilling from the second floor window of a bar.  We wandered in and saw the soccer game playing on the downstairs TV and knew we had to check out the party above.

The barmaid waved us through to the back of the bar so we made our way up a narrow pitch black staircase toward the noise.

When we reached the top of the stairs we were greeted with "Hola's" and Lord knows what else, but they immediately grabbed stools and old chairs and pushed them in our direction and motioned us to sit and join them. The gang was made up of guys, probably young 20s, and one pretty rough looking young woman.

The room was dark but for the sun streaming into the window, a run down, dirty place that hadn't been painted in years and the beer-stained ceiling was a testament to previous jubilant celebrations.

It was obvious that the revellers had been there for some time, judging by the number of litre bottles of Escudo and Cristal on the tables. They mostly all wore blue Claro-sponsored soccer jerseys, or had started out in them, some were waving them over their heads in solidarity for the University of Chile team, exposing tattoos of hands in cuffs on one fan's back, (which may have tied in to the numbers tattooed on the back of his shaved, nearly bald head), and U Chile crests inked on chests and shoulders.

The emotion in that room when their beloved U Chile scored was totally incredible. There were only 19 there, including us gringos, but we moved closer to the wall as we thought the floor might give out as they jumped, sang, belted out Chilean victory songs and chants. I could only imagine what a stadium game might be like. It was awesome. We hugged, high-fived, clapped to the victory songs and as the gang trickled out, finished our beer and hit the suddenly overly bright street, smiling for having had that experience.

I didn't take photos, partly because we'll remember the moment and partly because I wanted to keep my camera...

Rainer also likes to 'impress' kids with his soccer moves...and always comes back feeling that one day, they may become world class soccer heroes and he will have been the main contributing factor.  Always fun to watch...no need to speak the language, really.