Sunday 22 October 1995

We had a pleasant breakfast with the four Canadians. A waiter saw our guidebook on Chile and began conversing with Mary. She was very pleased when he complimented her on her Castellano, and even the Canadian sitting opposite her said he was impressed. We've come to realize that a lot of our ability in Castellano depends on context more than our knowledge of the language. When your conversing about a certain subject, there are certain obvious options of what is being said or asked at each step of the conversation, and you can grasp a couple of words here and there and fill in what the gaps must be from the context. So, you may give the impression that you've understood every word that's been said, when in fact you only caught one or two here and there and did some good guessing in between, filled in with nodding and shrugging.
After breakfast we took a taxi to the Alameda bus terminal. This was very efficient with full computer reservations, tiled floors and TV arrival and departure monitors. There was a 20-minute service to Vineyard del Mar and the next bus left in 5 minutes. The uniform crew took out bags and gave us a check receipt and the trip was very pleasant and comfortable. The hotel O'Higgins is just a couple of blocks from the bus station and we walked there. This is an old style hotel with an old hand driven Otis elevator. Much brass work to be polished.
We went for a walk along the sea and found a restaurant on the pier. All you can eat and drink (aperitifs, wine and shopp), buffet lunch. It was quite good but there was a lot of choice. We sat and watched the seabirds along the water as we ate - boobies, terns, cormorants and pelicans. The water was cold and the few who ventured in did not stay in too long. In the evening we went along to the railway station to find out that there is a frequent service of trains to Valparaiso.

Monday 23 October 1995

On our way to the railway station we called into the bus station to find out about the buses for our return to Santiago. It turns out they run at 15 minute intervals so it is a question of just turning up when you want to leave. We took the electric train from Vina del Mar to Valparaiso. This was pretty good even though it was a few minutes late. A dog had been sleeping on the platform and got on as well. It went under a seat where it was hidden from the ticket collector's eyes by a lady's skirt. When she got off, it moved under another lady's skirt. It got off before the end of the line so it seems that it knew what it was doing. Perhaps it commutes this way every day.
We went to the end of the line at Puerto and walked past a ship's chandler's and fish and chip shops (a cat was sleeping in a fish box) to the bottom of the Bella Vista funicula. We walked around the top and then found a way down, encountering many very mangy cats on the way. We called in at the Chandler and decided to get a brass portal ship's clock and matching barometer. They are beautiful but we would need to find a way of carrying them. We found a nice restaurant called Bar Ingles, for lunch. The special was conger eel which was very good. There was an all male birthday party going on at the next table complete with party hats, noise makers and streamers. The center of attraction was quite embarrassed, especially when the well built waitress kissed him. All the men kept their party hats on throughout the meal except for one who was too embarrassed.
Several people warned us on the streets to be careful as tourists and we decided to get an early train back to Vina del Mar. We tried to eat dinner at a Basque restaurant but were thwarted by the Latin pension for eating late. It looked closed so we ate at another one only to pass the Basque one fully open as we walked back to the hotel. We started with avocado and Mary had filet mignon with mushrooms while Colin had jardin de mariscos. We've come to realize that appetizers are the same in Paraguay, Chile and Argentina: palta (avocado) topped with your choice of chicken or chopped up ham, hearts of palm, and salads composed of lettuce, tomato, carrot and beets.