Wednesday 25 January 2012

Weekend at the beach

It has to be said that a rather wonderful aspect of living in Chile is the possibility of taking off for the beach for a weekend in January. Of course January here is the meteorological equivalent of July in the northern hemisphere, thus you begin to imagine the crowds, the difficulty in finding suitable accommodation, not to mention the traffic on the motorway... However, undeterred, we booked ahead and set off bright and early on Saturday morning for our chosen destination of Quintay, a picturesque and largely unspoilt fishing village with a tiny bay frequented only by fishermen, divers, the odd adventurous (or foolhardy) family and lots of seagulls. It was dull and overcast when we arrived, almost reminiscent of the English seaside were it not for the dramatic landscape, including valleys of fertile vineyards one passed en route to the almost vertical slope we had to walk down (and later up again) to get to the sheltered cove at Quintay itself. After a quick wander around the miniscule beach (dodging the stray dogs) we headed for a hearty fisherman's portion of fish and chips, Chilean-style (no batter, enormous quantities) and very good it was too. As we were settling the bill and ready to reach for the buckets and spades, DD2 announced she didn't like beaches after all, which was rather a bad omen for the two days we had planned of exactly that...
We attempted to begin to digest our lunch by visiting the ex-whaling station, now a vacant, shell of a museum mainly containing black and white photos testifying to its somewhat unfathomable past incarnation. As so often happens in Chile, the sun suddenly emerged from behind an apparently impenetrable layer of cloud to produce an absolute scorcher of an afternoon, thus we hurried to Playa Grande, a nearby stretch of golden sand which became more and more full of holidaymakers as the day went on... We had only just remarked on how peaceful it was when at around 4pm a sound system was plugged in and a DJ began blasting what can only be described as beach house music to a not completely gratified public...
By evening we were too happy and tired to care much that our cabaña, while recommended in two of our guidebooks, had in fact been a disappointment in terms of cleanliness and hygiene which may have been why some of us didn't have the best night's sleep...
The next day we set off further down the coast for Isla Negra, not an island but a locality so-called for its clump of dark granite rocks along the beach and also home to one of Pablo Neruda's houses, now a museum of the poet's eccentric and extravagant personal items collected from his travels around the world. Unfortunately choosing to visit Neruda's house in Isla Negra on a Sunday in January was a little like choosing to visit Shakespeare's birthplace on a Sunday in the summer months, that is to be avoided at all costs due to hordes of people, long queues and the selling out of tickets... Never mind we thought, a great excuse to go back to visit this little gem at another time of year. Instead we made straight for the beach which was beautiful and very atmospheric although made up of fine pebbles therefore not as interesting for more advanced construction purposes. However we still managed to keep busy for an entire day, making stone soup and tea amongst other delights and contemplating the ocean, whose icy water we paddled in but could not swim in. Clearly Chileans are made of sterner stuff than some of us...

Saturday 14 January 2012

Strangers in the night

Well the Befana came, bearing Italian chocolates and Chilean sweets, followed hot on her heels two days later by the Tooth Fairy who left the princely sum of one hundred pesos for DD1's first baby tooth to fall out... Let's hope that's it for a while as we've certainly had our fair share of nocturnal visitors recently, what with the jolly chap in the red coat, his elves and various other creatures of fantasy (who will soon be losing their mythical status if this constant march is to be sustained any longer...)
Meanwhile it's January in Santiago, warm and sunny though slightly cooler than the heatwave we experienced over the festive period. We have established a kind of rhythm which consists of plenty of visits to the park, lots of bike rides and even more dips in the pool... Only another month until DH is on holiday then we shall be free to take off for another adventure.
Not that there aren't things to do in the city. This week on an energetic whim I managed to take the girls on the metro to visit the excellent Picasso exhibition in town which made a pleasant change from the calm though dull suburbs. They have since been inspired to redouble their efforts artistically and we now have moulded and painted our own garden, decorated fairies and butterflies and painted works which even Picasso may have been interested to see with his notions of the perspective of the child as artist...

Friday 6 January 2012

Twelfth Night

It was not without some sadness but also with a good deal of relief that we dismantled our eco-tree today and put away our Christmas decorations in readiness for perhaps a proper winter celebration next year. Despite our best efforts it hasn't really seemed like Christmas this year either though Loving Grandmother's presence certainly added to the mood and helped us to feel it was a special time of year. The children were delighted with their stockings and various bits and pieces, enjoying in particular the swimming on Christmas Day and around, although DD1 surprised me more than once by saying that for her too it didn't seem like Christmas without the cold. It all seemed to be over in a trice as there were no extra bank holidays in lieu and the working week commenced again on Monday 26 December.
New Year's Eve was an interesting moment of cultural confusion as we took advantage of LG's babysitting potential and headed out, DH and I, to sample and savour the last night of the year in Chile's capital city. No-one had told us (nor had we asked) that the centre of the city was officially closed until after midnight on New Year's Day, thus we wandered around forlornly from barrio to barrio, being glared at by mean-looking carabiñeros for a worrying while in eerily quiet streets, searching for signs of life and anywhere serving even a glass of wine. Eventually we realised what was going on (seeing only disappointed tourists in a similar situation) and headed for the more "civilised" outskirts of the city where we eventually found hotels defying (or exempt from) the evening curfew and settled down for a four-course meal surrounded by rich and/or fat fellow diners. By eleven thirty we had finished and were stuffed to the gills, ready to take to the streets and begin saluting our fellow Santiaguinos... The streets were still desolate, completely deserted and Santiago had never been as empty. We began our long walk home, passing the midnight mark en route which was atmospheric for the lack of traffic, people and dogs for once... It felt like a metaphor for our existence here, DH and I alone in an alien world, always against the tide but together in a strange country, continent, hemisphere and culture...
So it is 2012 and a new year thus a time of renewed hope and optimism. Here in Chile the economic recession is not really an issue although there is a huge discrepancy in how people live hence a constant feeling of dissatisfaction for those of us used to a more even society. However one can only hope their turn will come too...
Meanwhile LG's departure has been softened by two exciting prospects: DD1's first wobbly tooth plus the potential arrival of La Befana, Italy's equivalent of the Three Wise Men who travels around the world on Twelfth Night, bringing sweets to good children and lumps of coal to the bad...