Day 3

We have been in Santiago for 3 days already and can't get over the view from our window, looking out over the snow covered mountains. I keep taking photos at different times of the day. It has been hazy everyday, however we are sure we'll get a clear day before long. Tonight the sun is shining directly on to the mountains and they have lit up beautifully.
On the first day, Saturday, we went for a drive down to Conchay Toro, a very famous winery about an hour south from here. Jason had hired a Kia van for us to use on the weekends as there are 6 of us now with baby Arden. It's a great van as Harley sits in the back with either Melissa or Nanna and watches DVDs. It keeps him occupied on the trips.
We were pretty tired after the trip south, so everyone had a nap in the afternoon. I slept so soundly that Melissa had to wake us up so we could go to the supermarket to do some shopping. This was an eye opening experience. Trying to decipher what the food was in the first place, some was obvious, others not so, and the pricing, Chilean's use the peso and 1000 mils equals about $2.05 in Australian Dollars. It's just the way it's written that confused us.
Saturday night we went to a restaurant called El Mason. When we first walked in, there were these lambs being cooked on stakes over hot coals. Oh, so this is what we're having for tea. Melissa said it was a very traditional Chilean restaurant that we were going to. We all ordered the lamb and when it came it was huge ribs of lamb, very hard to cut with a knife and fork, so in the end we just used our fingers to pull the meat off the bone. Not very elegant, if you didn't you would have starved. Jason also ordered for us a Pisco Sour drink, a Chilean drink and very nice.
The next day, Sunday, saw us driving south again, this time stopping at San Jose de Maipo. It was a nice little town/village and even though it was 10am by this stage the markets were just setting up. Interesting, as back home they would have been just about packing up to go home by now. Jason bought some chocolate and Harley had a bounce on a trampoline. Bob and I walked around the town and took some interesting photos. Before we left we tried some of the jams that were 4 sale and ended up buying some fig jam - not so traditional. That was our first purchase in Chilean money.
At about 10.30 and having paid some lady some money for parking, (really weird how you have to pay somebody something for everything!!) we headed further south, going in between these magnificent mountains. The plan was to either go tabogganing or swiming in the baths. Unfortunately we did neither as the snow had melted on the field where we would have gone tabogganing and we couldn't get up to where the baths were. The road was also blocked due to a landside so we couldn't go further south. However we did stop for lunch at a beautiful restaurant near Banos Morales. The mountains covered in snow were looming overhead. Unreal. Melissa & I had chicken and couscous while Bob & Jason had these huge "lumps" of steak and pototoes (papas). We stopped on the way back at a huge shopping centre so Melissa could feed Arden, and while we waited, Bob and I went for a walk and bravely bought some batteries for the camera. Phew! This is scary stuff when you don't know what is being said back to you. It was late in the afternoon by the time we got back to Las Condes, where Melissa & Jason live and we were all pretty tired and ready for an early night.
Monday 5th October - after Harley went off to Jardine (pronounced Hardin) and Arden stayed home with the nana (Sylvia), Melissa drove Bob & I into the city centre, Plaza de Armas to see the changing of the guards at the Palacio de la Moneda. It was similar to the Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, but different in the uniforms they wore. We walked around the plaza and took photos of some of the interesting buildings and had coffee at the Cultural Centre.
The catedral (without the h) was very interesting to see. The Chileans are very religious, mostly Catholics.
The driving in Chile is very sparodic, you really have to have your wits about you. At any one moment someone can pull out or walk out in front of your car without a care in the world. Some parts of the roads aren't even marked, and if you're not careful you could find yourself walking down the middle of the road!!! Interestingly enough there doesn't appear to be any accidents, well, touch wood, none that we've seen so far.
While we were out checking out the sites of Santiago, the nana (maid) was doing our washing and cleaning the house. She also had our lunch made when we go home after picking Harley up from Jardine and this evening the spaghetti was cooked ready for us to eat. Now I could get used to that. Imagine how much time I would have to run my Creative Memories business and play with Storybook!!!???
This afternoon we went to the BB Cafe, a cafe especially for parents to take their kids. I ordered a Chocolate Capuccino and as I've found since coming here, they will insist on topping everything with cream. Will have to find out the word for cream and ask for NO cream, por favor (please!). Phew, I think we're starting to get a hang of some of the main words to use.