The edge of winter

 After a long and warm fall the cold has arrived to Santiago. The trees of the city are naked or at least half-dressed after a few rainy days and a heater in the living room corner is working without sacando la vuelta trying to keep the unisolated apartment habitable.

Somos dos tú y yo!

 The last outdoor-BBQ of the fall took place a week and a half ago, menos mal. Even though the weather has treated us gently and the heat of a grill is always nice and cosy, it's inevitable that from now on hanging out on rooftop or in a park until late is only going to cause a nasty flu and cold toes.

I have been just a little bit jealous over the North European summer startup, notwithstanding the fact that I have had the privilege to enjoy the sun for the past 7 months almost non-stop (okay I might recall saying that I have never felt such coldness as I did in Cuenca, Ecuador, but besides that). Hopefully July and August will pass by at least as quickly as the time has passed so far.







I must take a moment here to praise the Chilean barbecue culture. Since I haven't spent enough time in Argentina to analyze the what-is-told-to-be-religion-like BBQ culture there, I can honestly say that I have never seen such a vivid and joyful way of combining friends, food and spending time outdoors than here in Chile. Especially in the summertime grills are heating up around the city on every rooftop and in several parks where people gather around to drink, eat and mingle with each other.

BBQ in Parque Intercomunal de La Reina

Parque Intercomunal is a great park to spend a whole day in. Kids (younger ones but also those who by age are decades from childhood) playing football, people having picnics, listening to music, eating, drinking, talking, laughing... Amazing!
Having any kind of voluntary special diet is not very common though so vegetarians and whoever wants to add vegetables or fish to their plate should be prepared to bring their own food and to listen to amazed questions about why not to eat what everybody else eat.

Later that day after work I met the guys in a small bar in Bellavista area where we got to enjoy a marvelous flamenco show full of emotion and passion. My michelada was standing still getting warm in the pint while I was mesmerized by the talent of these great artists. Personally this was the first time I ever saw a live flamenco show and I certainly hope it won't be the last one. Guau!

The next morning the alarm clock went off not any earlier than at 6 in order to catch a ride to the surrounding mountains to celebrate the beginning of the snow season. The guys we went there with had told us to be present at 7.15 A.M so that we would have as much time as possible to ski and snowboard and -again- with a European state of mind I stressed about not making it to their place in time and hence delaying the departure. In reality, the car engine was started at 8.30 A.M. When will I learn? 

The day was incredible; the sun was shining (yes, I had the reverse panda-look after deciding that no sun lotion would be needed and that the sunglasses would do the job), the slopes were in good condition during the first hours of skiing and the view pleased the eye of a Finn coming from the land of lakes and endless flatscapes. The only negative thing about ski centers are the prices. My jacket, gloves, skies, boots and sticks lightened my wallet with $26 000 (which is approximately 50 USD or 40 EUR) and the ski pass with $38 000 (or 75USD/55EUR). Other than money-wise El Colorado ski center was a laid-back and friendly place to spend a beautiful Sunday and I'm hoping to return there again during the upcoming winter months. 

I sincerely wish that I could write here about the amazing view over Santiago that you can enjoy while taking a break from skiing but I'd rather not lie. Despite of the fact that the view from the mountain over the valley where Stgo is located was breathtaking I was more horrified than delighted, and the reason is simple; Santiago de Chile is the second most polluted city in the world. From the mountains on a normal day you can only see the highest buildings of this city of 8 million inhabitants and there have been days when it has been impossible to see the surrounding Andies from the city center, all because of the polluted air that is stuck over the city and has nowhere to go.


Even though I have surprised even myself by liking Santiago as much as I do, sometimes it's absolutely necessary to leave the city for a day or two and go to the coast to breath some air. Last weekend the plan was to go to Pichilemu but ex-tempore (ok, no bus tickets available for morning sleepers) we decided to take a course to northwest and go to Concon and Valparaíso to relax and also to meet Ville who we haven't seen in a while. A great little getaway!

Valparaíso is such a cute city only an hour and a half away from the capital, I can easily understand why many santiagueños move there even though it is clearly poorer than for example its neighbor Viña del Mar or Santiago; Multicolored houses with paintings, graffitis and catch phrases on the walls, musical events, delicious seafood, vivid art culture and everything available easily.

Concón

Valparaíso photos

Awesomeness all around me

Oh what a weekend! Even Monday didn't feel like one after the amazing past few days.
On Thursday we went to La Piojera, a famous picada, (a type of authentic Chilean sandwich bar) to have a couple glasses of the notorious Terremotos which basically have same same guaranteed result as Jägermeister; warmness, a smile and a blackout. Containing white wine, granadina and pineapple ice cream (!) Terremoto is definitely one of the sweetest and most deceiving cocktails I've ever come across. The night was fun and as responsible adults we decided to leave after drinking two drinks each, too bad neither of us have any memory of actually coming back home. Oh well, guaranteed as I said.

On Saturday I was working in the evening, that is if you count a walk in a park and three hours of watching television while the baby is already sleeping, working.

 On Sunday we made a little getaway from the city and went to spend the afternoon on Cerro San Cristóbal, the second highest point of Santiago rising 800 meters AMSL and some 300 meters above the rest of Santiago.
Although we were appropriately dressed in sports clothes to blend in we made absolutely no effort at all in getting up to the hill, nope, none. It is possible to get up there by foot, car or the Santiago Cable Car (which was our choice) and the sports possibilities are really good luring joggers and bikers to spend time away from the polluted city. And despite the fact that I didn't take even one running step it did really good to get to the nature and enjoy the silence - or actually be so far away from the traffic noises that it was possible to close eyes and pretend it was the sea. Oh well.

After getting back to the center it was time to give ourselves a reward of the successful day outdoors.  If you've never tried champignon mushrooms with cheese filling with a hint of Merkén or other medium hot spice I suggest you prepare them today. Oh my oh my what a flavor! Went to the top ten foods list right away.

As if the day wouldn't have been perfect already it got a sweet ending in the form of a local fish called reineta and curry rice. I'm so glad there is no scales in the apartment, otherwise these delicious dishes would have been only a daydream.











...And then came the Labor Day evening which I got to spend with such hilarious and warm people. Supa!

with lovely Coni

Times they are changing - and so is the language

From now on in English - for your pleasure

It's hard to understand that today is the 15th of April 2013, what happened to those months that I would have never imagined to live?
Well, the answer isn't simple nor necessary to explain. Still, to sum up; after starting the travels in Ecuador in November of 2012, continuing to Peru and Bolivia and finally to Chile my life has changed more that I would've ever thought. Today I'm writing these words in Santiago de Chile under the forgiving rays of the autumn sun - yes, the winter is coming and at once I'm not running away from it. No, even though the airplane that was supposed to take me back to my old life in Finland is starting its engines in two days - without me.

Ever since Ville and I arrived to Chile and decided to continue to different directions I struggled to decide whether to stay in South America or to go back to Europe. Finally some two weeks ago I made up my mind and took the biggest step of my life so far without actually knowing what there is ahead of me. That I still don't know.

Obviously after spending 5 months and some thousands travelling I had to come up with a way to earn some money in order to support myself here.
After going through some ideas and failing to put any of them into practice I found a young European family that needs help with their 6-month-old baby boy and luckily for me it's the easiest job I've ever had; all I have to do is to enjoy this little goblin's company for a few hours a day and that's it! Plus, I never thought that my sorry excuse for a cow impression would be such a success.

The problem with a world with borders is that no matter how much you would like to keep enjoying your time in one country you have to earn your right to be there. For a Finn -or for almost any other nationality in that matter- the maximum length of a stay here in Chile is two times 90 days per year, that is if you don't have a contract and a working visa, which I don't have... yet. The two times 90 means that after three months you either have to pay US$100 to extend the tourist visa or make a trip for example to Argentina to get another 90-day tourist visa. And that is exactly what my friendly neighborhood Chilean guide and I did last weekend.

Mendoza is located in Argentina approximately three hours from the border of Chile and it's a very popular place to go to weekend trip for those who need to get an extension of stay in Chile. The bus ride there was supposed to take some 7 of 8 hours and since the customs are open only to one direction at a time (meaning that you can cross the border from Chile to Argentina only by night and the other way around during the day) we got to sunny Mendoza on Friday morning after nine hours and celebrated our successful journey by having a beer (or two) in the city center. Without going to any details I can say that the weekend was made of a lot of laughter, sun, sleeping and some partying and I even got a new visa!

The way back to Santiago took 12 hours - that's something I had the hardest time to understand. Okay, the borders are never quick or delightful but this time we first had to wait for four hours to get the passports stamped and after that two more hours just to have the pleasure to put our baggage through x-ray scanner in case somebody is carrying illegal products, such as fruits, to the country.

Fortunately the way from the border to Santiago took only 2,5 hours instead of the six that we spent in the bus on our way to Argentina.
The weekend in Mendoza was definitely interesting and enjoyable and yet it was good to be back in Santiago!

Today I have a day-off and and the weather is b-e-a-utiful; a clear blue sky and the temperature rises up to 32 Celsius degrees, that's my kind of Autumn!

I'm off to the fruit market.

Because I'm a lazy-ass blog updater here are some pictures taken along the way, the first ones from Bolivia and the latest ones from Chile.

France's gifts to the world

Perro solo para gringos

Tambo Quemado, the border of Bolivia and Chile

Weekend in Valparaíso

Santiago center

Vitacura, Santiago