Monday 27th - Our honeymoon begins with an early morning departure, Melbourne - Sydney, Sydney - Santiago, Chile. As we passed over New Zealand there was an announcement from the pilot suggesting we look out the window for the view.
Arriving at Santiago airport, through slow queues, touts and a Reciprocal Fee especially for Australians, Canadians and Mexicans, we managed to make our way to our accomodation and only be a little bit rorted by the driver's price. Sleep deprived, in a new country with a new language and an exchange rate of something like 500 pesos to $1, I consider just a little bit gouged an absolute win! Our room at De Blassis B&B was tiny but the breakfasts were nice and the hosts helpful.
After an afternoon nap - alarm set for an hour but I think we slept for 3 - we went for a wander to the business district, a newer area of Santiago, having a late lunch/early dinner at a bistro along the way. Sitting at a table outside, people watching, lovely weather, a bacon-wrapped steak for Mike that he still mentions, yummy fish (swordfish maybe) with a calamari sauce (I was aiming for burnt butter sauce but that ended up better) for me, it was our 'we're actually here' moment.
Tuesday 28th - We walked downtown to old Santiago, joining a walking tour with 4 fellow Australians. (Seriously, we're everywhere!) The guide wasn't the best with information, but it was nice to be able to wander and take photos without navigating. After lunch at Galindo, a restaurant specialising in traditional Chilean meals, we caught the funicular up Cerro San Cristobel to the 14 metre high statue of the Virgin Mary. Later we caught the metro (cheap, safe with a touch on system that works wonderfully!) to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, learning something of the 11 September 1973 coupe and the military government that followed. Rose petal icecream from Emporio La Rosa kept us going until a cheap and easy dinner at a bar on Pio Nono in Bellavista.
Wednesday 29th - We joined a day trip to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. Picked up at our hotel, we joined an Argentinian couple and the excellent tour guide for a really informative day. A gorgeous as Valparaiso was, the highlight has to be the incredible 5 course degustation lunch at Indoteca Winery in Casablanca Valley.
Beef tartare, salmon tartare, pumpkin and ginger soup, steak, gnocchi, dessert taster plate, all with wines to match. Wowsers!
After a rest at our hotel, we headed around the corner to Bar Liguria for a late, small dinner. Full of locals, walls covered with things, it was atmospheric and great.
Santiago is the land of stray dogs, 1 litre bottles of beer, pisco sours, instant coffee, sweet peanut butter and unions who protest with music and dancing.
Thursday 30th - After a 4 hour delay, we fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I'd booked a boutique hotel, Home Hotel, and it was amazing. Art everywhere, an incredible walled garden, a booklet of local info on arrival and we arrived home from dinner to a bottle of champagne waiting in the room. Las Cabras is a busy, relaxed restaurant only a few blocks from our hotel and serves incredible steak. (We didn't find anywhere in Buenos Aires that didn't!) Dessert, a chocolate fondant cake and a banana/cream/chocolate/dulce con leche dish, was incredible too.
Friday 31st - We caught the metro (less than $1 a journey) to the Centre where we saw the Obelisk, Teatro Colon, Plaza de Mayo, the Museum of the Bicentennial and many other beautiful buildings. Much of the city looks very European. We wandered over to the waterfront, Puerto Madero, which reminded us very much of South Bbank back in Melbourne, before heading back to Palermo Hollywood for dinner. 7:45pm by that stage, we actually had to linger for 15 minutes until the parrilla, a steakhouse, opened. Portenos, the people of Buenos Aires, eat late! We shared a big plate of ribs; Mike was in heaven.
Saturday 1st - Tucked up in our raincoats on a drizzly morning, we headed to Cementerio de la Recoleta, the incredibly ornate cemetery where Buenos Aires elite, including Eva Peron, are interred. After lunch, shored up with gelati (Argentina has a strong Italian influence and a unique style of icecream and pizza has developed here) we looked through the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes then continued past the enormous (not well) metal flower sculpture to the Museo de Arte Latino-americano de Buenos Aires. The first museum was very traditional, with many European paintings, but MALBA was a bit out there, particularly the exhibition which had just opened and featured a famous Argentian artist who worked with found objects. Very different! We grabbed some pizza on the way back to the hotel as an early dinner. (Probably afternoon tea time for locals!)
Sunday 2nd - Despite the heavy rain - for almost the entire day! - we wandered through San Telmo, looking at shops, galleries and the Sunday market, Feria de San Telmo. We had a lovely lunch in a restsurant on Plaza Dorrego and it came with a side of tango demonstration. We caught a taxi down to La Boca to see El Caminito, a little laneway with brightly painted houses. It was pouring with rain by the time we left and we shared a taxi back into the centre of town. They didn't speak English, we don't speak spanish, but they seemed nice. ;) After drying off at the hotel, we ventured out again for one last dinner in Buenos Aires. We had thoughts about trying a particular restaurant, but after seeing how heavy the rain was we made a line straight for the closest. We shared a great bottle of Argentinean red wine, taking the waiter's suggestion, and pasta for me, one final Argentinean steak for Mike.
Buenos Aires is the land of oneway streets, few lane markings on the roads, steak, tango, cheap and good red wine, late night dining, emergency vehicles with their lights always on and people who try and sell you things by placing them on your knee on the metro, walking back through the carriage a short time later and retrieving the items or payment.
