hello chaps!! finally finally feeling energised enough to go right back to February and fill you in on the four days or so we spent in Chile. Didnt get up to all that much actually s it shouldnt be a long blog. First thing to mention, our hostel was VERY NICE (named the Happy House Hostel). Beautiful big building and you could tell that theyd gone to a lot of time and expense making it nice. There was a fantastic roof terrace where you could sit in the (34 degree) sun and look out over all the rooftops of the city. This place also had one of the nicest breakfasts to date if for no other reason than the woman who dished it up was a SWEETIE. Honestly her smile every morning absolutely made my day. The fact that breakfast was a freshly made toastie, yoghurt, CAKE, cereal, as much fruit as you could eat and scrummy juice didnt hurt either ;) There was also a TV room which wouldve made any homeowner proud; huge custom built round-the-room sofas and a big TV. We watched blood diamonds and had a good laugh at Leo DiCaprio's accent.
We were staying in Barrio Brasil which is to the west of the centre. Lots of cafes, and a nice sunny Plaza. Strangely also a lot of Chinese restaurants and supermarkets! It was strange after coming from Argentina which is a bit more refined to being back in the situation, like Peru, where local guys lean outta their cars and hiss at you to try to get your attention. And it doesnt help knowing some words in Spanish because it means I understood what they were saying.. ! Stellas philosophy was if you wear a skirt what do you expect. My philosophy was if everything else is dirty why shouldnt I be able to wear my skirt and be left in peace! During the day we had a different kind of attention, from the local dogs, who would pad along by our sides, wait as we crossed the roads, and followed us wherever we went, block after block. Very cute! Had some good meals in the area; anything from sushi to delicious salmon risotto to avocado on toast - a specialty and a very good one at that!
After arriving on the Friday and having a look around, enjoying a complimentary drink in the evening, we booked ourselves in for a full days wine tasting on the Saturday. And it was a great day actually. Both vineyards were absolutely stunning. It was unanimous that we all needed to find would-be husbands who owned vineyards as this was definately the life! The sunshine in the Santiago area was glorious; really really hot, the wine tasting measures were really really big. I got some nice photos for you all to see. I think we got a good insight into the process etc but Im not a born again wine fanatic now all of a sudden. I still shudder a bit to hear people yapping 'oh yah you can really taste the blackberry daaarling, much better than the sauvignon with the oak overtones, didnt like that one at all daaaarling'. Might crack it out once in a while though, just for fun ;)
Anyway needless to say the sun and the wine did not sit happily together and Sunday was a complete wipeout. Thank god for the TV room. Spent the whole day in there watching desperate housewives and that ilk and collapsing with serious brain pain whenever I tried to stand.
Despite this being a lovely hostel, theres always a nutter who spoils it. We had a middle aged man and his son arrive and insist on yibbering away in Spanish despite the fact that we didnt undertand. Lying in bed at night I had the joy of watching him scale the end of the bunkbeds to reach the top bunk which hed decided to do NAKED. Not a pleasant sight. He then slept naked on top of the covers (this I was spared by the angle of the beds - thank GOD) and the next morning lay waiting no doubt hoping to catch a glimpse of the girls changing, beating his chest like a gorilla whenever you caught his eye. What a freak. I think the son was suitably embarrased and rightly so!

The following day we went to Vina del Mar beach. It was nice but the breeze made it a bit chilly despite the sun and it took us a good couple of hours to get there. I shouldnt have gone, I was still feeling pretty rough from the day before but I did have a nice chat with a local girl about her travels to the US and had a good ice cream too so not all bad. The next day we spent the whole day lolling around the hostel. It was very hot in Santiago that day so just sat around fanning ourselves, glugging water. Flight to Auckland went very well. I tried out the sleeping pills my Aunt gave me and that definately shaved a few hours of the journey plus I had a good laugh watching a film called the Nanny Diaries. Next blog to be from New Zealand.. :)