I must say I am amazed by the happy accidents that have happened to me on my travels (mind you, there are a couple bad...one I will detail later in this blog) the chance meetings, the wonderful people, the extreme kindness of strangers...that wind up being friends...in the States I have often found that I am more guarded or not open to receiving kindness...not quite sure why and I hope that will be changed upon my return...but when I travel something happens...and the most amazing things come out of it...
This past week I was hosted by Antonio Alcalde, a warm, kind, intelligent man from Santiago. He took me into his home, fed me, gave me amazing homemade wine, mead and beer, let me relax from my travels, carried on intelligent and fantastic conversation, showed me areas of Santiago I would never have seen, took me to INCREDIBLE theatre and became a lasting and wonderful friend ...I am forever grateful.
Antonio with his son and daughter
The front yard
Some of the animals
View from in the house (Santiago in the distance)
The days were filled from the time I arrived to the time I left. On Friday evening I tasted some of the most amazing wine, champagne and beer I have ever had...all homemade! Red wine that had been buried for one year and blessed by the light of the moon, beer made of nuts and other things...that I cant seem to remember...champagne made from fermented honey mixed with ginger and lemon...I was amazed...
Saturday I rode on a motorcycle into the hills, through beautiful small towns with amazing views of the mountains...
Sunday I was invited to an awesome family gathering and nothing shows you the pulse of a city more then a family...this one truly has a big heart...
Sunday evening I saw one of the best productions I have ever seen in my life...It was a company called Teatro Cinema and they BLEW my mind...the acting was superb but the most impressive part was their concept...I am not even sure how to describe it...they were able to mix film with theatre in the most seamless and effective way I have ever seen...they took me to a new reality...it didn’t even matter I didn’t understand a word they said...It was a new way to tell a story that combined the two things I love the most...theatre and film...
On Monday I walked around Santiago...exploring little avenues and small cafes...
On Tuesday I walked in the hills, watched horsed and slept...
The view from the hills
Tuesday evening I dined at a lovely French restaurant hidden in the hills...I ate amazing mouth watering snails bathed in butter, drank tart, tastey Pisco and a lovely wine called Camenaire (not sure if I spelled that right)...
On Wed I made my way to the Bus Station...and had my day bag stolen (yep here is the bad thing I foreshadowed at the beginning of this entry). It was such an unfortunate occurrence, but something I have had to accept so the rest of my journey will not be tainted. It was so quick, done but such a professional...I can’t blame them for my 30 second indiscretion. I set my bag down by my foot, handed my passport to the man at the ticket counter and that was it...it was gone. Thank goodness it had none of my vitals in it as they were securely tied around my waist...but they did get all the items I have bought over the past 2 months (sorry to all of you whose gifts where in there), some personal items (like my beautiful locket from my mother)...but what can you do...I can’t continue to beat myself up for being human, think about what I lost, or be angry...it doesn’t get anything done...so that was my sacrifice for the wonderful week I had...but...it was worth it...here are a couple of pictures from the week...not many as you forget to take pictures when you dont feel like a tourist...
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