Back in Santiago on what can only be described as an eating and drinking tour. Been to so many fab bars and restaurants, met Zoe's gang and bumbled about the city on the metro doing some touristy stuff. It's been sunny most days with just a bit of a chill in the air.
Here's my top 10 experiences / discoveries so far:
1) There's so many stray dogs and they all seem determined to follow me. Super glad I got my rabies injection although to be honest they all look like well kept pets rather than rabid dogs. Bizarre.
2) Best ice cream I've ever had at Emporio La Rosa and there's one in Los Leones just 10 mins from Zoe's so I'm munching my way through their many many amazing flavours. Favourite to date is the lime and mint sorbet- yum!
3) They only have that milk that doesn't need to go into the fridge and keeps forever. No fresh milk anywhere. Luckily I don't like milk, but the expats that do are missing it bad. If you got a cow and started selling fresh milk you could make a small fortune!
4) One of the shop assistants asked me where I was from and then told me how he loved Scotland and his favourite film was Trainspotting. Finished by telling me that the drugs in the film probably came from South America. All in Spanish of course.
5) Dinner at Borago which was voted pretty high up in the top 50 restaurants in Latin America. This place was out of this world. 8 course degustation with matching wines with everything sourced from Chile and a whole back story to every course. There was 6 of us and we had an absolute ball. Lots of theatre with the courses, like a main of venison which was meant to represent the killing of the deer ( not for the vegetarians out there) and had a red sauce splattered over the plate and fake gun powder with a chocolate sauce antler. One of the deserts came with a massive twig on the plate with berries attached you could eat. Then there was the finale of iceberg cookies which you were told to eat in one bite and when you did white smoke came out of your ears and nose. Great night of fine dining Chile style.
6) When the Metro is busy it's worse than the London tube as they're all so bloody tactile that full on leaning up against a complete stranger is totally acceptable. And its never a hot guy, always an old guy or some middle aged woman!
7) The main square and fish market were a bit on the dodgy side especially if you're a blonde gringa, but 10 mins walk and you're in Lastaria which is a cool little area with cafes and bars on cobbled streets. Had a fab lunch there for Zoe's birthday with various pates, real bread (not the sugary white square stuff they love), garlic seafood and a modern take on patatas bravas where the potato was like a mini fondant with a hole filled with the salsa.
8) Little mini empanadas are even tastier than the big ones. Had some for breakfast when we went up to Los Dominicos, a little craft fair and farmers market. Breakfast of champions!
9) The White Rabbit is one cool wine bar and makes amazing mac and cheese with truffles for a bit of glam. We went for a big birthday gathering on Sat night and ate our way through the menu, practised our spanish, had a giggle with the 24 year old waiter (who I tried to set Zoe up with until we found out his age), drank them dry of Pisco and bubbles and finally stumbled home at 3am.
10) The birthday dinner taught me that drinking more than 5 Pisco Sours (I lost count) will end badly. Lesson learned and I spent all of Sunday mega hungover. Our plans to get up and go to Valpa that day folded and instead we spent the day in our respective beds watching tv series on iPad and occasionally surfacing for nourishment. Although the birthday girl was much more sprightly than I was.....the piscos got me bad!
All in all I'm having a blast in Santiago and its been great to hang out with Zoe and see a bit of her life down in South America. Next stop Valparaiso for a few days before a final hurrah in Santiago.
