Saturday, January 5, 2008

It`s the little things

Still in Valparaiso but I`m heading back to Santiago tomorrow with Graeme. Berni`s sister has just got back from Australia so he tried to avoid the family chaos by visiting us for the weekend.

We went out last night to Poblenou, a little cocktail bar down the road, and had delicioso amaretto sours, pisco sours, mojitos, caiprenias... and then went to a wine bar where I was the only one prepared to try Palta Sour which is avocado, pisco and lemony stuff. Actually not bad. I`m going to indroduce the avocado into the cocktail industry in New Zealand.

I`m trying to upload some videos to the blog but they are enormous files and take forever to do. If this one takes too long I may just have to wait until I get back to NZ.

Anyway, I can`t get over this city. Funny little place. Most mornings we are woken up at about 10am by people riding around on the back of trucks and playing tunes on gas bottles with sticks. They do it so people know they are on their way to swap empties for fullies. They`re really simple tunes but really nice and very catchy. I end up with the tune in my head for the rest of the day.

Cerro Concepcion is like Labyrinth. There are stairs going all over the place and they even have tiles with arrows on them (and I`m sure they change direction every so often). The whole place is exactly like the last scene in the movie where Bowie is walking upside down and on the walls, "Everything I`ve done I`ve done for you. I move the stars for no one..." Marvellous! I did sing that on my way through last time.

Yesterday Greg, Graeme and I went to Pablo Neruda`s house up on the hill. It is amazing. It`s difficult to explain though and you`re not allowed to take photos inside but basically it is a mish mash of a lot of `things`from all over the world. Like an embalmed Coro-Coro bird (like a scarlet ibis) hanging from the ceiling in the living room and a map of the Americas from the 1600s (?) and portholes looking out over Valparaiso and... just a lot of stuff which all works well somehow. It`s very nautical in it`s design. It was a really interesting place to see. And the area that it`s in is beautiful. Really brightly coloured houses and amazing architecture. We spent an hour or so wandering the streets (Greg managed to do a bit of a strip show down to stubbies in front of a cop who looked at us suspiciosly - as you would) and finding our way back to town.

Anyway, here are a few more photos. Seeing as I ca´`t put any of them the right way up I am just going to put ones that are landscape for now...

Spider web outside Berni`s house in Santiago. I don`t want to see the spider that made it.

Graeme and Greg on the balcony admiring the Valparisian landscape.

Greg and Marty just before the fireworks on New Year. Aren`t they happy chappies!


Everyone on New Year. Alejandra, Alejandro,Berni, Magdalena, Greg, Marty, Courts, me and Tim.



This is a street just off ours. The building on the right is about to fall into the ground but it`s a beautiful (must find better adjectives) house. The houses on the left are similar to a lot in Valparaiso. All with the bright colours.

GAAAHHHH!!! I just cancelled the upload of the video and it was almost done. MIO DIOS!!!! Maldita blog. Sorry.

Graeme and Marty are waiting for me so I better go.

K xx




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are having a great time! The spider's web looks like a black hole, perhaps its a minature galaxy.

Mum desperately wants to hear your voice and talk to you. Is the there a phone number that she can use.

All my love,
richard.schneider@hp.com

PS: Happy New Year