Despite our pretty disappointing adventure on Saturday at the Yein Fonda, we decided to give the holiday festivities one more try. After all, the entire city was closed down for the weekend, so searching out a Fonda was really our only option. We caught the news Saturday night and found that where we should have been that day was at the Parque O’Higgins Fonda. All the cool kids where there including President  Piñera who officially opened Santiago’s largest Fonda by dancing the Cueca.

That’s him on the right being a rooster :)

Once we saw this on the news we knew that this was most definitely our next move in our little game of Fonda hunting. As I mentioned in my previous post, Tom and I were really looking for a big party with lots of traditional food, drinks, music, people, and maybe some dancing to watch. After our Saturday misadventure we were a little wary of venturing into another Fonda and getting our hopes and dreams dashed, but fortunately for us, Parque O’Higgins did not disappoint!

It was most definitely one gigantic party! My first impression (and still the best way to describe it I think) is that it was like the L.A. county fair with a Latin flair and a lot more dancing. 

There was a ton of really delicious, unhealthy food and drink…just what we had in mind :)

Tom and some of the friends that we went with had these meat skewers which seem to be a very popular street food in Chile since you can find them just about everywhere. 

There was meat being grilled on makeshift grills, sopapillas browning in hot oil, empanadas being kept warm on heated slabs, a food lovers paradise! Well at least if you’re a food lover of horribly bad for you fried foods :) Which we are, of course. 

My absolute favorite treat to get in this type pf situation is a sopapilla. I didn’t get a picture but here’s what they look like:

They are made from pumpkin and deep fried. Chileans have been eating these deep fried pumpkin treats since 1726, and traditionally they are only prepared and eaten on rainy days…best rainy day food ever! Fortunately these days they don’t reserve this deliciousness for rainy days only. They can be served as a sweet or a savory depending on the type of sauce they are served with; dulce de leche for sweet, and pebre, mustard, or ketchup for savory. I’ve never had a sweet one before but I have had more than my share of savory sopapillas with delicious Chilean pebre sauce. 

While I was busy picking up a sopapilla at each and every sopapilla stand we passed, Tom decided to get these frightfully shiny papas fritas 

Papas fritas (or french fries) are also a super popular and common food in Chile, except that in my opinion they aren’t quite doing it right (note the unbelievable shininess of the pictured fries). Now, I certainly do not have a problem with deep fried things, grease is not necessarily a turn off for me, but this is just too much. And they seem to be like this everywhere. The papas fritas in Chile are very greasy and seemingly underfried since they are floppy and not at all crisp like the fries elsewhere. Which, is fine, of course they can fry potatoes however they darn well please, I’m just not so sure I’m on board with it. Tom however, seemed, totally pleased with his floppy fry purchase, but that could have had something to do with these

The legendary Terremoto. The terremoto is a bizarrely fascinating combination of sweet fermented whine called pipeño and pineapple ice cream. Oh yes, that’s right. To call it a cocktail would be a stretching the term far too far. However it’s uniqueness and creativity cannot be denied. It is an awful drink. I had heard many a warning about the power and the terrible taste of this legendary drink, but unfortunately I had to find out for myself. And boy, were the terremotos flowing in Parque O’Higgins. 

It is believed that the terremoto was born at a well known Santiago bar called El Hoyo (or the hole). The story goes that some German reporters came to Santiago to report about the damages caused by the major earthquake that had struck the city in March 1985. Due to the heat, the reporters asked for something refreshing so a waiter called Guillermo Valenzuela added some ice-cream to a glass of pipeño. When they tried the concoction, they supposedly said “Esto sí que es un Terremoto” (This truly is an earthquake) due to how strong it was and the name stuck even since.

Teremotos come in a variety of “flavors” with different combinations of various liquors and pineapple ice cream. We also had an even more awful variation with Chicha, a fermented wine made from apples, which was kept in these comically large casks

As soon as this guy started pouring I knew I’d made a mistake :)

and later two of our more adventurous friends got one with a mint flavor. The mint was by far the worst of the bunch; just imagine creme de menthe, sweet fermented wine, and pineapple ice cream. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?

After our earthshaking terremoto experience some of us (not me) decided to try our hand at some very obviously rigged carnival games (again I believe this lack of judgement was due to the aforementioned terremotos). 

This strange and confusing game seemed to be a sort of “spin the bottle” with bottles type game. I couldn’t quite understand how this one worked, but I sure hope that they were giving away those bottles of booze as prizes because there was clearly not enough alcohol involved in this fonda (insert sarcasm here).

After a few failed attempts to knock over something with something or get a ring around something or throw a ball into whatever, we decided to stick to what we know best. More food. I knew going into this thing that there would be churros stuffed with dulce de leche and I would be having one. After scouting out a few churro vendors I finally decided on this churro truck

They were making them on site, it smelled delicious, and they had the blender with spout contraption (on the left) that dispenses that delicious life giving dulce de leche. Done and done!

I haven’t actually seen it done this way before here, but I loved the giant churro wheel that he pulled out of the fryer. Isn’t she lovely? Then the other guy cuts them into manageable pieces with scissors and uses the awesome blender and spout contraption to fill them with deliciousness

I took a picture of me eating this delicious mess but I have decided that it is not a flattering or accurate portrayal of my love of churros (or maybe the problem is that it’s too accurate), anyway suffice it to say I enjoyed it thoroughly. If you are ever in Chile and you see a churro truck parked on the side of the road, stop what you are doing and buy one immediately…you will not be sorry.

Our Parque O’Higgins Fonda adventure was a wonderful departure from the ordinary and a much needed reminder that we are living in a beautiful country with a lot of really fun and interesting cultural differences. Santiago tends to be so westernized that often we can forget that there is a Chile outside of this city that has wonderfully unique traditions. Despite our disappointing fonda fiasco on Saturday we ended our weekend on a high note with some fantastic food, earth shaking drinks, confusing carnival games, and good times with friends.  

This past weekend Tom and I celebrated our first Chilean Holiday, and my was it a BIG holiday! Dieciocho (eighteen in Spanish) is the day traditionally heralded as Chilean independence from Spain. It is celebrated on the 18th of September every year, which is actually the start of their war for independence. Technically the war didn’t end until 1826, when the last Spanish troops surrendered and the Chiloé Archipelago was incorporated to the Chilean republic. One of the founding fathers and a crucial military leader was Bernardo O’Higgins who has left his name and his legacy all over Santiago including with the famous Bernardo O’Higgins Escuela Militar. If you’re wondering how he got the name O’Higgins (I know I was), he was of Irish and Basque descent. 

 Tom and I had been told that this holiday was a pretty big deal in Chile, but I’m not sure we were prepared for how serious it really was. We were thinking like 4th of July in the states, lots of BBQs, a few fireworks here and there, spend a few hours with family or friends, drink too much, and go home. A big day, but only one day and nothing too crazy. 

In Chile, their independence day is not just one day but more like a 4-5 day celebration. Apparently they really didn’t enjoy being ruled by Spain because they celebrate in a big way. We had some hits and misses throughout the weekend. Some things were great and others not so much. I think the key to spending Dieciocho in the city is to have a Chilean family. If you don’t have a Chilean family then you probably aren’t going to get the most out of the weekend. Unfortunately we have yet to be adopted by a Chilean family, so we were on our own this weekend. I suggested that we just go to one of the many family gatherings in our building and try to blend in or just say that we are here with (fill in the blank) but Tom vetoed this idea. Personally I think an “Hola, commo estas” could have gone a long way to help our adoption cause! But despite our lack of a food sharing Chilean family to guide us I think we did a pretty good job on our own. After all it’s not called an adventure for nothin’!

We kicked the weekend off on Friday with a very fun office party at the Start Up Chile office where the staff tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to teach us foreigners about the Chilean traditions surrounding the weekend. I say unsuccessfully not because I thought they did a bad job, but more because everyone was mostly just interested in the free beer and homemade empanadas. This is the office that we get to work in everyday. Jealous right?!?! ;o)

It’s part really old mansion type house, part super new state of the art technology. A very cool and aesthetically pleasing mix if you ask me! 

Anyway, at the office party there was a lot of this

Which I think is how every office party should be. I mean can you really call it an office party if there’s no beer involved…I don’t think so. Anyway, this 

is what said beer led to. Which was pretty great. Some traditional Chilean folk dancing. This particular dance is called Cueca and it is the national dance of Chile. This dance has rich historical roots in both African and Native American cultures. Even though Chileans have been dancing the Cueca for years, it wasn’t declared the official dance of Chile until September, 1979. The Cueca is a parody of the courtship of a chicken and rooster. The dancers wave handkerchiefs above their heads during the dance. These handkerchiefs can symbolize the feathers of the bird or the rooster’s comb. As one of our Chilean friends pointed out, it is a very sexist dance, but it’s pretty neat to watch either way. 

Then it was our turn to learn the dance. Which was interesting considering the aforementioned beer. 

The afternoon was really fun and everyone had a great time learning a little about Chilean culture. We even learned how to play some fun traditional Chilean games. At some point during the course of the afternoon they mentioned that many Chileans leave the city for the holiday and that it tends to be sort of empty during the day. We shrugged this off thinking that in such a large city there was no way that would be possible. In hindsight I’m not sure why we chose to believe that we knew better than the native Chileans. Surprise, surprise, they were right! The city was totally empty during the day with many Chileans going on vacation and the rest spending the day among family and friends at asados (BBQs). Which leads me to our rather disapointing Saturday adventure. Like I said, they weren’t all winners this weekend. 

We had been hearing about a really awesome Fonda called La Yein Fonda for weeks. It’s literally pronounced “the Jane Fonda” (“y” is pronounced “j” in Spanish) and they definitely play up the pun

Traditionally in Chile a “fonda” is a temporary food and drink establishment set up to sell local food and drink to revelers and passersby. This type of temporary establishment dates back hundreds of years and traditionally is a small stall that stands in an empty lot with sticks, branches of eucalyptus and a roof of reeds. It looks something like this

(I didn’t take this picture, thanks Wikipedia!) This is a picture of a traditional Fonda. This Fonda was taken in a commune of Carahue. 

Since they began celebrating Chilean independence and Dieciocho was born, these small individual Fondas have turned into huge gatherings of many different small independent eateries that set up their temporary stalls (sometimes just a hollowed out metal drum for BBQing) and sell their wares to hungry and thirsty revelers. So we had been told by many people including many Chileans that La Yein Fonda was the place to be. The name of this fonda comes from a band called Los Tres who released an album by the same name in 1996. The album consisted of songs the band had played in a park during the Deiciocho celebrations. The gathering of the band and soon many other bands became known as La Yein Fonda and has been a favorite destination for Chileans ever since.

Now, let me preface this my saying that we obviously went at the wrong time of day, we had something entirely different in mind, and I’m sure if you were Chilean and you had been doing the traditional Chilean celebration since birth it would be much more fun to go to a giant concert with a bunch on Chilean bands. Unfortunately for us, we did not grow up celebrating in the traditional Chilean way, we are not bored with the traditions and looking for something new and exciting, and we wouldn’t be able to understand a Chilean band even if we were. Tom and I really wanted to go to something with a bunch of different local vendors, cheap food and drink, lots of people celebrating, a festive vibe, with some traditional dance or like activities included. We had never been to a fonda before, so this is what we were hoping for and expecting from La Yein Fonda. Instead this is what we got

A big tent with a bunch of empty tables (remember how I said that the city was empty during the day because everyone was enjoying their asados?), a giant empty stage that wouldn’t be occupied for several more hours, an admission fee, grossly overpriced tiny portions of food and beer, and a very disappointed me

So we struck out on this one. We could have come back in the evening but the admission price was exorbitant, there was only one overpriced food and drink vendor, there was none of the tradition and local spirit that we’d been looking for, and we were both feeling a little down after our first failed attempt at joining in the weekend’s festivities.

So Instead we took a leisurely stroll through the city to Bella Vista for some dinner and micheladas.Along the way we saw a few interesting sights. There was a giant and rather ominous looking church at the end of the park that drew our attention.

This thing was truly massive.This church is formally called The Sanctuary and Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes and it was built in the early 1880s. It appeared to be closed perhaps due to the obvious earthquake damage it had sustained in recent years. But no earthquake damage could stop these persistent Catholics. Adjacent to the closed church were these two outdoor structures the first of which appears to be built into the side of a rock wall

The nearby vendors were also selling these

for those so inclined. 

After leaving the park we walked several miles (even though Tom assured me that it wasn’t that far) through a mostly deserted city, with the exception of Plaza de Armas, which was pretty busy. Nearly every Latin American city has a “Plaza De Armas” which is the name for the main square. It is comprised of a large open square peppered with statues of famous presidents/political leaders and surrounded on all sides by historically important military, political, and/or religious buildings.  

Correo Central or “Central Post Office”, standing at the former site of the city governors’ residence.

Originally the Central Post Office, now it is the Museo Histórico Nacional or National History Museum.

Catedral Metropolitana, one of four churches that has stood here. This one was built in 1747. The three before were each destroyed by a different calamity.

After our brief stop in Plaza De Armas and our epic journey (did I mention several miles?!?) through some beautiful old neighborhoods

we arrived here

and on this quiet balcony, in the early evening, with the heat of the day finally starting to lift we enjoyed some refreshing micheladas and this delicious champiñón pil-pil. 

We also had some awesome sandwiches which I didn’t get a picture of because I was way too busy devouring mine. This restaurant is located in Bella Vista and it is called Ciudad Vieja which means “city view”. And boy does it have a great view of both the Bella Vista neighborhood as well as nearby Cerro San Cristobal. This place has been recommended to us by several of our friends and when we told them that we sat out on the balcony they were so jealous. Aparently when it is not a holiday weekend and the city isn’t deserted during the day this place is packed, so be prepared to wait. I think I can say without any doubt that it would be worth the wait. I had a smoked salmon sandwich with avocado on a warm croissant. And Tom had a Lomo Saltado sandwich which is a Peruvian dish consisting of slices of steak marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, and spices, then stir fried with red onions, parsley and tomatoes. It is traditionally served over white rice with homemade french fries that look more like potato wedges. Sound like a delicious idea for a sandwich? Tom confirms that it was indeed!

So that was the first half of our first Chilean Independence weekend. Like I said there were some definite hits (Start Up Chile office party and introduction to the Cueca) and some serious misses (La Yein Fonda), but there was also a healthy dose of exploration which resulted in some delicious rewards. “What about the second half of the weekend” you ask?

On Sunday, we went to the Fonda at Parque O’Higgins and found what we had been seeking all weekend, but I’ll save that for my next post…

That’s right! It’s another funicular fiasco :)

As far as I can tell funiculars are pretty popular down here in Chile. Which is fun for Tom and not so fun for me. I think it’s the fact that I can’t quite conceptualize how two cars could counterbalance each other so perfectly that they would be capable of pulling a group of people up and down a steep and very long incline. Somehow that doesn’t seem natural to me. Of course they’ve been functioning perfectly well since 1515 when the first funicular was built in Austria, so there’s probably nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about unless you are faced with this terrifying looking incline which will haul you up to the peak, 300 meters above the city.

Gulp! Luckily I had this guy to take care of me.

Who, upon my asking what he would do in the case of a cable snapping situation, informed me that he would jump out the side and “try to grab me on his way out”. Good to know we, or rather you, have an exit strategy…thanks for lookin’ out babe ;)  

This particular funicular was built in 1925 and has a track length of 485 meters. Which basically means it’s really old and it takes awhile to get to the top. I was okay for the first half of the ascent but at about the halfway point I began to feel a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately, they don’t stop the funicular for slightly panicky foreigners so onward and upwards!   

Fortunately, upon reaching the summit (unharmed although still slightly frazzled) I was rewarded for my perseverance and unyielding bravely with this gorgeous sight.

So this is Santiago. It feels big when you’re down in it, but I don’t think I realized how big it really was until we got to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. Cerro San Cristobal is the tallest peak in Santiago and is best known for the 22 meter tall statue of the Virgin Mary perched atop it’s peak.

She was donated by France in the 1920s. What is it with France donating giant statues of women to other countries? It’s a little showy. Anyway she is a big draw for tourists and natives alike. They are very Catholic down here, so Mary’s a pretty popular gal. 

There is also a church honoring Saint Christopher, the eponym of this historic hill. In 1987 during a visit to Chile, Pope John Paul II led a mass here. 

In addition to the numerous religious buildings and monuments on Cerro San Cristobal there is also the metropolitan zoo, a Japanese style garden, and of course the ever present, always interesting, rarely unique “tourist trap”! Every city in the world has them, and Chile is no exception, although they do seem to be fairly rare here. Best known characteristics of the “tourist trap” include but are not limited to: mass produced key chains and magnets, “hand crafted” statues of famous monuments, brochures, maps, postcards, and numerous other paper products, popular native foods, and this man, who from what I could tell was offering children the opportunity to pose atop his artificial horse for a picture.

I love this shot. I want to grandpa adopt him! He just looks like the sweetest old man :)

We had a lovely time exploring Cerro San Cristobal. Of course we still had the descent to look forward to. It looked something like this

and was for some reason less scary than on the way up. Perhaps I’ve been converted and am now able to see the “fun” in funicular!

Tom and I made an agreement before moving to Chile that the weekends would be about us. Which meant absolutely, under no circumstances, would there be work done on the weekends. Our weekends would be about spending time together and exploring our new home. So far we’ve done an excellent job sticking to our promise. Tom works so hard during the week to make our dream a reality and I do my best to help him, so when the weekends roll around we really try to make the best of them.

So here’s to one recent weekend activity that added a little spice to our otherwise AWESOME life :o)

A few weekends ago (I’ve actually only been in Chile for a month even though it feels like I’ve been here forever) we took the amazing metro to a famous Chilean winery just outside the city. Since I’ve been here, I’ve often thought that if Los Angeles and New York had a baby, Santiago would be the result. Santiago is a charming mix of old, stately skyscrapers and urban sprawl. The architecture is reminiscent of old New York but the expansive suburban layout is very obviously Los Angeles. And as is the case with many cities, including Los Angeles, the downtown area has an air of bustling importance

while the urban sprawl reminds one of a past forgotten.

Stepping off the metro in Puente Alto felt like stepping into another country; a poorer country certainly, but also a country more willing to enjoy a simpler albeit more challenging life.

out here they are just being kids.

Once off the metro in Puente Alto we took a quick taxi to the nearby winery. Concha Y Torro is the largest distributor of wine in South America, founded in 1883 by Don Melchor, it has become famous for its Carménère grape which was believed to be extinct.

. 

In 1883 Don Melchor bought a variety of grapes from the Bordeaux region of France. The grapes included Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot, and Carménère. Throughout the years as the vineyard changed owners, the Carménère grape was thought to have been lost until it was rediscovered in 1994 at a most opportune time. In 1867 a Phylloxera plague destroyed the Carménère grape and it was believed to be extinct. No one knew or remembered that it had ever been grown outside of the Bordeaux region of France. Unbeknownst to the owners of Concha Y Toro, they had been harvesting the grape along with the Merlot grape believing that the Carménère was simply a variation of the Merlot grape. The differences between Chilean Merlot and Merlot produced in France were certainly noticible (the Chilean version was nearly 50% Carménère), but it was not until Professor Jean-Michel Boursiquot studied the mysterious vine in 1994 that Carménère was “reborn”. Now Chile and Concha Y Toro are famous for their Carménère wine which is found in very few other places around the world. Because of Chile’s natural borders, this precious grape was able to escape the devastating disease that deprived the world of delicious Carménère wine for nearly 130 years.  

So, of course, we had to try some :o)

It was pretty delicious. Of course I cannot tell the difference between Carménère and Merlot, I’m no wine expert (and, of course, even they couldn’t tell the difference). But maybe this guys can

He seems right at home in a room full of casks. Here’s Tom romancing the wine ;o)

Part of the tour was a look into the famous Concha Y Toro cellar known as “Casillero Del Diablo” or “the Devil’s cellar”.

As the legend goes, Don Melchor began noticing that casks of his most expensive wine were continually going missing. Perplexed, he investigated the matter and discovered that the local townspeople were sneaking into his cellars and rolling away barrels of his precious wine. Knowing that the townspeople were both very Catholic and very superstitious, he began circulating a rumor that the Devil lived in one of his wine cellars. The rumor worked like a charm and he never lost another cask of wine again. To this day the cellar houses the most expensive wines and is called Casillero Del Diablo. 

After the wine tour we relaxed on the patio and treated ourselves to a little more wine and cheese! Delicious cheese :)

Before boarding the metro and making our way back home, we took a walk around Puente Alto. In an earlier post I mentioned that Santiago was not at all what I expected it to be. I didn’t explain that well, so I’m going to attempt to do that now.

I have not done much travelling in South America outside of a trip earlier this year to Colombia, so I think I made the same mistake that many America’s make which is that South America looks like Mexico, or more specifically like the poor parts of Mexico that most American’s are familiar with due to it’s recent prominence in the news on the drug wars (please don’t misunderstand, there are parts of Mexico that are gorgeous). I think it is a real shame that we have all but written South America off as the ugly step-sister to the shiny, modern North America. Because the 70s, 80s, and 90s were filled with images of drug wars, corrupt governments, and poverty stricken people, South America has been unable to shed it’s ugly albeit distant past. The South America that I have come to know (and this absolutely includes Colombia) is beautiful, modern, and safe. These are not third world countries and there is not a drug lord waiting around every corner to jump out and kidnap Americans. There are parts that are poorer and less modern which is the case in every country, and in Santiago Puente Alto is one of these places. So, before I came to Chile, with no idea of what it looked like, I fell into what I’m going to call “the Nixon trap”(since he was the one who coined the term “war on drugs” and began indoctrinating Americans with the idea that South America was an incurably evil, drug infested country).

Because I didn’t want to get my hopes up about a place I’d never seen before and because I was going to have to make it my home whether I liked it or not, I set my expectations pretty low. Meaning I thought that Santiago was going to look like this

                                              (Puente Alto)

Instead of this. 

                                   (Downtown Santiago)

Which would have been fine, of course, but perhaps now it’s a bit clearer as to why I am so absolutely delighted with my new city :) I just love pleasant surprises. 

The trip to the winery was a wonderful little excuse to get out of the city, see a bit of the “country”, and enjoy some good wine. It made me appreciate the beauty and stateliness of Santiago proper, and it gave me a broader view of what life outside Chile’s modern epicenter is like. I cannot say often enough how much I love Chile. It is beautiful, unique, modern and it teaches me something new every day. I hope that eventually it will be able to wash off the stain that our government broadcast for so many years and that people will try to understand South America and Chile for what it is now instead of what it once was. If we, as Americans, continue to look at the world through eyes that wear “media colored glasses”, we will miss out on making journeys and discovering places that have the ability to transform us.

                                 (Colombia, February 2011)

Today we hitched a ride with some Start Up Chile friends and headed for the coast. For the last seven or eight years I have lived about a mile from the ocean, first in San Diego and then in the South Bay Los Angeles area, so I’ve really been missing the ocean since we moved to Chile. Yes, it’s only been about two weeks, yes, I am spoiled. Anyway, as it turns out a couple of other Los Angeles natives were also missing the ocean, so we all piled into a rental car and set off for Valparaiso.

It’s a short drive, about an hour and a half from Santiago, and it’s a pleasant one too. The landscape is really lush and green, and dotted with a few farms and wineries. The roads were surprisingly well kept, litter and pot-hole free. I am continuously amazed by the cleanliness of this city. Los Angeles could learn a thing or two from the Chileans about cleanliness!

In Valparaiso we parked in a big town square type thing in front of this rather curious and imposing building. I think it had something to do with the navy or the ocean or… Anyway, Valparaiso was once a very important port for ships making their way around the tip of South America, but of course once the Panama Canal was completed in 1914 it became less frequented. People just love a good shortcut :) It does still seems to be in use and on a fairly large scale though.

Valparaiso, like many cities on a bay, is built up into the surrounding hills. This makes for a very interesting looking city as well as offering many wonderful vantage points to take in the bay and the ocean beyond.

Valparaiso is composed of many tiny, steep, winding streets that pass for two lane roads (somehow). There are also very steep flights of stairs…

And this frightening contraption

Which we rode, even though I was pretty sure this wasn’t going to end well :) This funicular is at a 45 degree angle and was built in 1883 (There is another funicular in the city that is at a 70 degree angle!). The funicular car is the original and is made entirely of wood. The creaking was a bit disconcerting. And when we got to the top we found that our fate rested in this man’s hands

With the help of this wheel contraption he hand cranked us up and down the hill

After disembarking from the nearly hundred and thirty year old wooden box and kissing solid ground a few times, we proceeded to stroll through a very neat and highly artistic neighborhood in search of some good seafood.

Now I am a pescetarian (meaning as far as meat goes I only eat fish), and I was a bit worried that moving to Chile would make it difficult to keep up this lifestyle. But when I found out that Santiago was awfully close to the coast, I figured seafood would be both plentiful and of good quality. Sadly, this was not a very good assumption. To be fair Iv’e only been in Santiago for two weeks, but there has been a notable lack of seafood on the menus that I have come across. Additionally, the selection of seafood in the grocery stores had been rather disappointing. Suffice it to say, I had very high hopes for great seafood in Valparaiso. And I was not disappointed. We found a little restaurant tucked away on a tiny cobblestone street that was packed when we got there (always a good sign). We ordered ceviche and a dish called camarones al pil pil to start. The ceviche was not only beautiful, but absolutely delicious. And the camarones al pil pil was tender, with a rich olive oil and garlic sauce. 

This was a wonderful and exciting surprise as I think it certainly exceeded everybody’s expectations. Tom and I both ordered albacore steaks. Mine came with a mixed seafood sauce (nobody at our table was able to understand what was in the sauce even though the waitresses described it to us several times and in many different ways including with hand gestures and miming) that was a little sweet and very earthy. I also ordered papas fritas, because even though papas fritas are big in Chile and you can get them pretty much anywhere, I have yet to get an impressive batch and I am not one to give up on fried food. These fries were not a let down :)

Tom’s albacore came with a coconut curry type sauce with shrimp and lentils. Both of our tuna steaks were cooked perfectly, unbelievably tender and juicy. 

This was easily the best meal that I’ve had in Chile and actually the best seafood I’ve had in quite awhile. 

We did see more interesting street art in the city. I’m finding that Chileans really do love their street art, and who could blame them. It’s really beautiful.

Valparaiso is a bit underdeveloped and rough around the edges. It’s clear that when the port became less vital and subsequently less frequented the city suffered. However it still has it’s old world charm and it is easy to imagine what it must have looked like in the 1800s when it was a bustling hub of commerce and culture. The various maritime and naval buildings sprinkled throughout the city are a constant reminder of its illustrious role in the building of the western hemisphere.

We genuinely enjoyed our day by the coast and look forward to visiting Valparaiso’s less historical and more modern sister city Vina Del Mar, where hopefully we will run into more delicious seafood! And since I can’t survive for long without getting a little taste of that cool ocean breeze, I’m sure we’ll be back to explore even more tiny side street restaurants in this charming seaside town, Valparaiso!  

I have been in Chile for a week and a half now, and I have avoided writing this post because I’m not sure what to say or where to begin…

I’d like to be able to say that Chile is exactly as I expected, but it’s not at all. I’m not sure what I thought it would be like; Tom has asked me that several times and I haven’t really been able to describe it. All I know is that Chile is beautiful, vibrant, exciting, alive, cold, modern, old, friendly, intimidating, different, clean, eclectic, and completely fascinating. That’s not to say that I thought it would be ugly or dirty or anything like that, it’s just that I’ve never lived in a big city before so I don’t think I really had any concept at all of what it would be like.

I’m rambling a bit here and I think it’s pretty clear from the tardiness of this post and it’s aimless nature that it’s difficult for me to put into words what I’ve seen so far and how I’ve felt about it, so I think I’ll rely on the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”…

View of the city from the balcony of our apartment 

View of the Andes from the other side of our apartment building

Various statues…pretty much every city has them :)

There are stray dogs everywhere in Chile and in the winter people buy them jackets…

And scarves!

There is a neighborhood called Bellas Artes that is covered in street art. I mean everything is covered in it, including houses and businesses.

Someone’s house…neat!

Some of it is truly stunning

Tom thinks the city looks like what Paris must have looked like in the 70s. Here he is modeling for you ;)

I love this building. It looks Parisian…and haunted :)

This is in a beautiful park called Santa Lucia. It’s actually a park built into and on top of a giant hill in the middle of the city…gorgeous views and very old architecture.

Here he is again, pretending to be a model…I had no idea about this when I agreed to marry him ;)

From the top of Santa Lucia

So this is Chile, or at least what I know of it so far. Not bad, eh?

This sign is misleading

This sign is misleading because it is next to the freeway and it is in Baldwin Park.

Because I am homeless I have moved back to Covina to stay with my parents while I wait for my real life to begin. 

A few weeks ago Tom and I tackled one of the most important things on our bucket list. I have to admit, a few of our bucket list items got lost in the shuffle and madness of our last few weeks in L.A. But there was no way we were going to let this one slip through the cracks! This post is actually about the second half of the giant pancake day. This is also the day that Tom had tacos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…amazing! This is why I’m marrying him :) Low maintenence

Tom made the unfortunate mistake of ordering breakfast tacos at The Griddle. He was disappointed. Not because they were bad, but rather because he was used to getting the “man vs. food”-esque monstrosity “Poached y Papas” Benedict which is basically two poached eggs sitting atop a very think slice of ham which in turn sits atop fried potato skins and the whole ridiculous mess is covered in Hollandaise sauce. And you must remember that this is The Griddle we are talking about so everything is giant sized.

I’m sure you can understand Tom’s disappointment.

I didn’t actually take this picture by the way. This particular menu item is so beloved that there are pictures of it all over the internet…check it!

Later in the day as we were heading to the Dodgers game, we decided to stop by our favorite (and the BEST) taco stand in all of Los Angeles. I know everyone has a favorite place that is the “best” in Los Angeles, but we are serious about this one. If Tom and I could eat street tacos every day we would, so in other words, listen up people, we know what we’re talking about here :)

Cactus Tacos!

Tom has been coming to this tacos stand on Vine in Hollywood for years. He took me here when we first started dating and it was love at first bite! We absolutely have to come here whenever we are in Hollywood and often we make up excuses to go to Hollywood just because we want to go to Cactus.

Tom had a dog for fifteen years named Sally. Sally passed away just a few months before Tom and I met. Tom used to stop by Cactus a couple of times a week to grab an al pastor burrito on his way home form Grad school. One day he left his precious burrito in the car with Sally and can you guess what happened? She ate the whole thing including the brown paper bag and the foil wrapper. So basically, this food is so damn good that it’s worth eating paper and foil for, well at least if you’re a dog it’s worth it :)

This food is very authentic. No frills, just meat, really good salsa, and maybe some lettuce if you order shrimp or fish tacos like I do. Tom would suggest that you get there after sundown if you want the al pastor. They don’t start making a fresh batch until the sun goes down. And by fresh batch I mean a giant chunk of glistening meat spinning slowly on a vertical spit like you see at the sidewalk vendors in Tijuana. 

Paper plates, old picnic benches, tiny roadside shack, always a line, simple and cheap, perfection!

Observe the joy and satisfaction on that face. Plus they serve Cactus Cooler here…rad!

Next we headed out to the Dodgers game. We have been trying to hit up as many games as we can before we leave, and we actually did pretty well! Tom has a great group of guys that he plays baseball with every Sunday, and a couple of them are always willing to go to a Dodgers game. Tom’s buddy Rex has been the manager of their Sunday baseball team for years and he lives right around the corner from the stadium, plus it helps that he is (i think) even more obsessed with baseball than Tom is :) We had the pleasure of going to several games this season with Rex and various other baseball teammates. 

As I have said before Tom and I have become acutely and almost painfully aware of how lucky we have been in our life in Los Angeles. I am personally grateful for the time I got to spend with Tom’s baseball team. I have been to almost every game since Tom and I started dating over a year ago. For the first few months I was almost always the only fan in the stands, but eventually other girlfriends and wives started showing up…see what I stared, if you build it they will come ;) They are a wonderful group of men and Rex and his father Doug in particular were incredibly welcoming and kind to me. I really believe that the people that we choose to surround ourselves with and bring into our lives are a reflection of us, and Tom has made some excellent choices. It’s one of the reason’s I love him so much, his judgment is impeccable. I mean obviously it must be, he did pick me after all :)

We actually went to this particular Dodgers game with a different but equally awesome group of Tom’s friends. Tom recently finished Business Grad school at LMU and while he was there he had the opportunity to meet many great people and go on an awesome trip to South America with a few of them to put what they’d learned in business school into practice. We went to this particular game with a couple of these guys, Brandon and Grant. It was a great game! We had great seats (because the Dodgers kinda suck this season and good seats are CHEAP). 

Tom likes to really concentrate when he is at baseball games, I like to eat peanuts and drink ridiculously overpriced beer, everybody has their own thing. 

Check out that hair…that’s not going anywhere anytime soon ;)

After the game we stopped off at a place that Brandon told us had the hottest salsa he’d ever tasted. Of course our interest was piqued because we are always on the hunt for very hot salsa. Just a few days before that we had gone to the farmers market at the Grove and stopped in at a store that only sold sauces, most of which were hot sauces. Of course we were thrilled to stumble upon such a uniquely bizarre and wonderful store. We purchased a “10” hotness level (on a scale from 1 to 10++), and were sorely disappointed. It was not nearly hot enough, so the promise of the hottest salsa Brandon had ever tasted was irresistible.

Sadly I do not know the name of this place. You’ll have to give me a break, I’m new to blogging and I have not yet figured out how to surgically attach  my camera to my hand. I’ll do better next time I promise. The salsa was spicy and the tacos were reportedly very good (I had a quesadilla because they had no fish or other veggie option), but everyone except for Brandon agreed that it was definitely not the hottest hot sauce ever. 

It was however a great adventure, a great day, and a day full of tacos, which in our humble opinion is always an awesome day!

However, the hunt for the hottest hot sauce is still on…

any suggestions?

And I don’t get him back for another three weeks

Tom took off last night to kick off the beginning of our journey to Chile. He had to be there by July 14th and I will be staying behind to attend my parent’s 30th wedding anniversary on July 30th. Which means we’ll be spending three weeks apart. It also means that in the five weeks since he asked me to marry him we will be spending less time together as an engaged couple than we will apart on two separate continents. Yes, Tom asked me to marry him two weeks ago, and of course I said “yes”. Because as much as I like to tell him he’s wrong, he does in fact have me “wrapped around his little finger”. This is one of Tom’s favorite phrases to tease me with, probably in part because I always playfully but emphatically deny it and because it is so painfully, obviously true to us both.

I stayed on a friend’s couch last night after dropping Tom off at the airport, because in addition to him leaving we have also moved everything out of our house and given it over to a property management company to be rented as soon as possible. So when I say I feel like a homeless person, I mean I truly feel complete bewilderment at the loss of both Tom (who is my home) and my physical home (which provides a lovely roof over my head). But it’s only temporary, and at the moment I’m holding onto that sentiment for dear life :)

Tom and I both had a difficult time this last week. We have been mercilessly trapped on a roller coaster of emotions, which doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. Tom has been extremely stressed out about getting the condo rented, moving, and starting a new business and consequently has been getting very little sleep. I have only just begun to realize the magnitude of what we are doing here and have consequently had panic attacks and long crying spells several times over the last week. Several weeks ago we talked about how we knew that neither of us had really wrapped our minds around the idea of moving to Chile yet, and we were somehow unconcerned or at least unawares of what that would look like when we finally did get it. That moment came for both of us this week, and it was not enjoyable. 

We have both talked to so many people who have told us how jealous they are and how they wish that they could do something like what we are doing. But if you had the opportunity, if there was nothing standing in your way, would you actually be able to do it? I don’t think people really realize how scary it is to take such a big risk. We are leaving all of our friends and our families, our happy memories in Los Angeles, our home that we have built together, our stable jobs, our paychecks, our culture, most of our worldly possessions behind in the hope that we will be able to start a new business and a new life on another continent where we don’t know anyone, don’t speak the language, don’t understand the culture, don’t even have a place to live yet.  

Scary

People like to say that it will all work out, but we don’t really know that. It’s just a stupid thing that people like to say. I know that Tom and I will make it work no matter what happens around us. Maybe that sounds like the deranged ravings of the newly engaged, but I really do believe in us. We both know that the next year is going to be impossibly hard and will put a big strain on our relationship at times. And I think it is that openness and willingness to have hard discussions like that and be honest with each other about the difficulties that lie ahead that really give me that confidence in us.       

So enough of whatever that was…

We have been slowly chipping away at our bucket list over the last few weeks in the final countdown that has become our life. I need to do a few more postings on where we have gone and what we have eaten, but I’ll save those for another time. The other day we did go to the Matsuwa Japanese market for some ramen noodles at a little place called Santouka in Culver City. Even though this place is literally inside of a Japanese market, it was really good. Well actually, I didn’t get to have any because there was no veggie or fish option, but Tom loved it and I sorta tend to trust his opinion on most things, sort of, most of the time. Tom had a pork ramen dish

which certainly looked and smelled delicious. But what really convinced me that this was a special dish was Tom’s uncharacteristically generous observation that “the pork was like butter”. Tom loves pork, maybe not in the same mildly questionable way that Anthony Bourdain loves it, but he loves it all the same, so for him to make such an enticing comment it would have to be pretty damn good pork. And yes that is seaweed on top, yum! This place was authentic, cheap, and delicious.

I went to a nearby vendor in the same part of the store and got a noodle bowl as well. Sadly I do not remember the name of the vendor, but what I got was absolutely heavenly. It’s actually the vendor right next to Santouka, I didn’t have to travel far to find something equally as delicious :)

I got Udon noodle soup with vegetable and shrimp tempura floating on top like a crunchy cloud of awesomeness. Tom and I argued for a few minutes over which of us got a better meal, but in the end we both walked away completely thrilled and satiated. One suggestion, we got there around 11:30 which seemed to be the sweet spot because as soon as we had ordered and sat down the lines became very long. For delicious, un-college-esque ramen noodles, this is your place!

One last thing…

I was pretty sad today, ya know cuz of the whole heart leaving on a jet plane thing we talked about earlier, and when I woke up this morning I was in sort of a daze and at a loss as to what I should do with myself.

When I am sad or lonely I tend to go driving. I don’t know why driving around is so soothing to me, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that I have lots of time to reflect and think, I can observe people and be out in the world without actually having to interact with people, and I get to see new things which helps keep my mind off of my troubles. So upon waking I went to Sloopy’s in Manhattan Beach (my favorite restaurant in Manahattan Beach mostly because of the garden-type atmosphere) and had my very first solo meal. Yes, that’s right, I have never eaten alone in public before. Weird, I know. For some reason it has always been a very intimidating concept for me, but I must say as I sat there alone eating my pancakes and reading Gone With the Wind (it only seems appropriate in my present forlorn state that I read the greatest love story ever told) it actually felt like the most natural thing in the world. 

After breakfast I just decided to drive. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been enjoying the widely varying and sometimes troubling surface streets of Los Angeles recently, so this seemed like the perfect activity to eat up most of my day. I drove aimlessly for a few hours, snapped a few pictures, observed a lot of people, got checked out by male drivers a few times (I always thought that was the stupidest thing until I heard a story from a friend about a time when it actually worked out, as in they got married…wild), and generally enjoyed myself. 

gotta love the versatility here

Then I decided to do something that I’ve been meaning to do ever since I moved to Los Angeles.

When I was in college I saw the movie Wonderland about the Wonderland Avenue murders involving the famous male porn star John Holmes. It happened in Los Angeles in ‘81 and for whatever reason the story fascinated me. I think it was the way Los Angeles looked in the eighties, the nonchalance compounded with the cowardice and selfishness of John Holmes, the reckless and desperate loyalty of Dawn Schiller, and the way in which the people were killed so blatantly and recklessly, that really got my attention. Anyway, for whatever reason, it has become my favorite movie and I have been meaning to visit the house on Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon for several years. Today was the day. It looks totally normal of course, it’s on a narrow street surrounded by slightly run down hippie-ish houses.  

It looks pretty much exactly the same as it did then

 in ‘81

someone lives here now and it looks like a totally normal house. As I drove away I wondered if I would be comfortable living in a house where such an horrific event had taken place. I’m not superstitious, I don’t believe in ghosts or anything, but I still think that it would be bizarre and downright creepy. Of course it’s probably also bizarre and downright creepy that I drove to Laurel Canyon to see a house where four people were murdered thirty years ago. Oh well, it took my mind off of my missing heart for awhile, and right now that’s what it’s all about.

We went to The Griddle this morning for breakfast. Our housekeeper came to clean the condo this morning, which means that we are not allowed to be in the house. Which is fine by me because that means that we got to go out to breakfast and make the first stop on our L.A. bucket list…GIANT pancakes!! I mean seriously giant. But before you even see the giant pancakes and experience the angst over how you will possibly finish them, which comes standard with the pancakes, you have to experience the angst of trying to pick a flavor from about fifteen of the most outrageous and delicious pancake concoctions you could ever imagine. For example, they have Oreo pancakes, OREO PANCAKES!!! They also have Kaluah and Bailey’s pancakes, chocolate something or other pancakes, pumpkin pancakes with caramel filling, raspberry lemon pancakes, and of course the delicious pancakes that I got coconut, pecan, butterscotch chip pancakes!!! And they all have cute names…which I don’t always love, but I actually think they pull it off. My pancakes were called “scotch on the rocks”. This was my glorious breakfast:

Tom insisted that his hand be in the photo for comparative purposes…he was worried that it would be unclear how stupid big these pancakes really are :) So as you can see they are both enormous and delicious. They came with a giant blob of whipped cream on top (which wasn’t really necessary, but I’m not complaining or anything). As soon as this monstrosity was set in front of me I began to formulate a plan of how I could take down these pancakes. Tom and I watch that show Man vs. Food a lot, so I was pretty sure I had the experience to win this food battle. Tom gave me a generous 20 minute time limit in which to finish the pancakes (by the way there are three pancakes there).

It didn’t go so well…

This was after about a half hour AND I felt like I was going to puke. The pancakes were really delicious, but super sweet. As Tom wisely pointed out, it was as if I had eaten cake for breakfast and called it an acceptable alternative to a sensible bowl of cereal. Needless to say I will be eating pancakes for the next few days.

Now we are at the Bourgeois Pig on Franklin across the street from the very scary/menacing Scientology Celebrity Center. I’d like to go knock on the door and ask if I Tom Cruise is in and if he can come out and play. Tom (my Tom) is working and I am playing :) Tonight we are going to a Dodgers game with friends, one of our last baseball games for a couple of years. Tom is looking forward to having a Dodger Dog. It was suggested that he try the relatively new and completely ridiculous hot dog invention that is now standard at Dodgers Stadium: The “Doyer” Dog

This suggestion was quickly vetoed. It’s almost as stupid as those pancakes :) Are those fake grill marks? Really? Nachos on a hotdog? Really?! Anyway, Tom is looking forward to having the comparatively plain fake grill marked Dodger Dog. And I’m looking forward to some peanuts and beer…and Casey Blake :)

We dropped off all of our visa info the other day at the Consulate General of Chile. I had this idea in my head that it would be in this really neat old building downtown, but it wasn’t. It was in a boring bank building. Boring. So no cool pictures of that. Not that it necessarily needed pictures. It wasn’t very eventful. Except that we forgot roughly half of the information that we were required to bring in for the visas, we got in a small fight/loud discussion about this fact, went to Kinkos down the street to attempt to rectify this problem before the office closed at 1:30, did not make it in time, and ended up at the farmers market at the Grove for some tacos and beer. All in all a very lovely morning/afternoon. I did snap this picture of the El Rey theater from across the street at Kinkos

And also this one of Johnie’s Coffee Shop which is across the street from the Consulate General of Chile (now you know where it is in case you also decide to pack up your life and move to Chile) and which Tom tells me is no longer a working coffee shop and is currently only used for filming

Even though I will be the first person to admit that I am over L.A. and the traffic and the people and the pollution and the whole weird hipster/hollywood/gotta get famous vibe, I will also say that now that I am leaving, I have become sentimental. I have started going out of my way to use surface streets instead of the freeways so that I can snap pictures and see parts of L.A. that I otherwise wouldn’t. It’s been interesting and enlightening.

Maybe it’s not so bad :)