Odds and Sods

Aging Disgruntledly
Went to pay some bills for Kevin yesterday, in cash at the offices. In the cable company office, I went to the common queue to wait for a free till. A lovely Chilena ( female Chilean) took my arm and gently guided me to the Caja Preferencia. The till reserved for people with children, people who are disabled, pregnant females------ and old men!!! Thanks a lot baby.

See It Writ Large
Lot of people out of work here. No benefits, nowt. So there are quite a lot of pavement vendors. Sunglasses, scrunchies, hair slides, fruit, sandwiches,anything portable. Even saw a chap selling magnifying glasses. He is there on a regular basis. So in Santiago? Want a cheap magnifying glass? Try Av Providencia, just up from the Tourist Office. Sorted. Need a fire juggler? I know one who works red traffic lights for tips. Saxophonist? Works the buses, playing for tips. Mime aftists, singers? Easy. Pull one off the street. Some lives are tough though but.

Mist It
Went on a trip to the mountains today. With two Argentinians (Racing supporters), two Americans and a couple from Milton Keynes (ManU- surprise, surprise) To cap it all, the tour guide was a Chelsea fan. West Bromwich que?) As I was to go to 3000 metres plus, took sun hat, long sleeved shirt, shades, water and a light jumper. Used the jumper. Nothing else. Flipping mist (unseasonable) above 1500 metres. Saw foothills, horses, goats, cows and a llama. Instead of the whole of Santiago spread out like a carpet below me? Mist. At least the guide told us what we should have seen. Nice. Lunch was to be had in the ski station workers canteen if you wanted. I had soup, fill your plate with salad, (most of a) cow and chips and half a big green melon for four quid. And I turned down the can of pop and loaves of bread that were also included. Had to leave half of it/

Stuffed
You soon learn the Spanish for "Thank you, I am full" or I have. It is impossible to get anything small to eat here or so it seems. The recipe for caesar salad with chicken, for one, starts " Take two lettuces, a small sliced loaf to be made into croutons, a small cooked, chopped chicken" and goes from there. Serve in a pot washing up bowl with dressing. (Note to chef. Mix well so the punter has to sort through all the lettuce to get at the good bits) To follow Sir? I recommend the piece of cake. I will help you lift it or will cut it into six inch cubes if you want. To be fair, the food is usually good and reasonably priced but nouvelle cuisine it aint.

More tomorrow.

If I can be assed!

Happy birthday Joe Bellotti.

Belated Happy Birthday to all those I have forgotten. I am on your case when I get back.

Thanks for the posting Catherine.

Luv to All

Old Blue Eyes will be back.

CAKE

This is my general term for food in Chile as cake seems to play an important part. In the shot of Maria and Kevin, the blackboard shows todays specials. There are three. Each involves "Medias Lunas" , which are mini croissants, and some sort of coffee and or icecream. This is at the Haagen Diaz cafe. Next door is a sushi restaurant, over there a pizza parlour, an Italian trattoria ( Tony Romas) and a pasty (empanada) outlet. All have cake on the menu. Starve you wont. (Still havent found the apostrophe)

For BIG CAKE you really have to go to a pastelleria which, of course, is a posh cake shop. We went to one as K and M wanted to order the nibbles for the reception. I put on two pounds just by walking through the door and breathing in! See pic of big cake. You can also buy slices off BIG CAKE. Just in case you cannot wait to get them home before you eat them, the shop also serves coffee and lets you use a table. Hence you can get about 10,000 calories down your neck, in five minutes, without the family knowing. If still unsatisfied, the pastelleria also sells boxes of chocolates although it was unclear whether or not they were sold as separate chocolates or in small quantities for eating in!



COMMENTS

At the bottom of the page you will find the "Comments" button. To leave a comment, you have to register. If you find this too difficult, just send me an e mail. However my grand godson, Jed, managed it and he is about 12. (Thanks Jed). So get commenting.



PS I watched the Carling Cup Final yesterday ( in Spanish of course). K and me were sat about in shorts and t shirts. I couldnt understand at first why people were wearing coats and scarves. DOH.

Greetings From Chile

This is my Lazy E Mail. It means I can do stuff once then you lot have to look it up if you want to READ ALL ABOUT MY CHILEAN ODDEYSSEY. So it's up to you folks. I can see it now, blog removed by blog host due to lack of interest. Anyway Ill give ita whirl.

As most of you know, I arrived here safe and sound, on time and met by Maria and Kevin who whisked me home (for a month anyway) to Providencia, one of the posher bits of Santiago. A bit of a white knuckle ride from the airport because I had forgotten what city traffic is like. Imagine the M25 at 6 o clock on Friday evening at 100 kph and you are somewhere near Santiago urban arterials. Kevins flat is lovely, if a bit bijou, but great mountain views and everything you need at hand. At everybodys hand actually. Prime feature is balcony for drinking beer in the cool of the evening watching the sunset (over to your left a bit too far, but good all the same),

Hit some shops this morning, bought plasters (for an injury after a setee incident), a keyring, a notebook, a pair of trousers and lunch, all in Spanish. Well, in a combination of their Spanish and me doing my Marcel Marceau impression. Have you ever tried to mime "ensalada vegetariana"? Luckily I can point "en espanol" as they say here, so I got fed. The lady at the next table was counting coins whilst wearing leather gloves. Unusual I thought especially as it was 30 degrees in the shade. But then the waiter told me she takes coffee with TEN sugars so I guess the gloves were not so odd. after all.

You can always get natural fruit juices here. I like chirimoya juice, chirimoya being a Chileno fruit. Today I tried a chirimoya and orange juice. This is also nice and is called a "Happy Chirimoya". Makes you feel good just to order one.

Disappointing to find I was a size 56 in trousers here. That is "cinquenta y seis" in Spanish which sounds even bigger. (Note to Self. Dont fill you face over the next four weeks.) Kevin said that I was lucky to find them sized at all. Some shops dont bother with sizes, you have to guess.

So thats it so far. No real plans for the rest of today, Friday, and out to lunch at Marias Mums tomorrow. Exciting stuff aint it.

Final point for today. Kevins computer is not only in Spanish but also the keys dont all do what they say they do. For example, I havent found the apostrophe yet as the pedants amongst you may have noticed. (Sorry Lynne). The @ is Shift 2 and Open Bracket is Shift 9. And, of course, Close Bracket is Shift -. As you all know. So a bit of slack with the punctuation please.

More with pics later when I find out how to do it.

BJIC