We met our dear Chilean friends Joan and Mayira in Cape Town in 2010. Justin
and Joan were working for the same company, PRDW, at the time in the Cape Town
and Santiago offices, respectively. Mayira joined the company shortly after
arriving in South Africa and they both still work for PRDW. We enjoyed many
weekends hanging out together before we left South Africa to live in the
Netherlands. But the friendship remained strong with frequent skype chats and
emails. Joan and Mayira visited us in Rotterdam in May 2012 and we promised
that we would visit them in Chile too. Our opportunity finally arrived in
December and we grabbed it with both hands!
We were so excited about finally visiting Joan and Mayira in their home
country, getting to explore a bit of Chile and a proper hot Summer holiday, the
first in 3 years! Before we tell you about our wonderful adventures in Chile,
we want to thank Joan and Mayira and their families for making our holiday so
great and memorable. We really loved meeting your families and all the time we spent
catching up with you; the long drives, all the braais and the games of Cluedo.
We had a really great holiday and thank you for your friendship, your warm and
open hospitality, for looking after us so well, and for making so much effort
to show us as much of Chile as possible in such a short time. Thank you!! We
look forward to planning the next holiday together soon, we just need a
location =)
We arrived in Santiago at midnight the Thursday before Christmas and Joan
and Mayira surprised us by picking us up from the airport instead of sending a
taxi as we had discussed #reallove. Everyone was still working the next day (except
Bron) so the holiday only started for real in the evening. And what a start it
was: sunshine, swims in the pool, cocktails, the first braai of the holiday and
an introduction to choripan! No braai in Chile is complete without choripan. Traditionally
served as a starter while the meat is still on the fire, choripan consists of a
sausage similar to chorizo called longaniza on a roll with a wicked little
sauce called pebre (finely chopped tomatoes, avo, spring onion and coriander
with a dash of lime). They are so yummy, it is indeed possible to only want to
gobble up choripans all braai long. Justin cheekily re-named choripan longipan
since longaniza sausages are used and not chorizo. Joan’s brother makes a spin
on choripan which he calls choritaco: you guessed it, longaniza wrapped in a
soft taco shell.
Getting the holiday started! Justin and Joan relaxing by the pool.
Building the fire
Friends braaing
First braai of the holiday!
Sunset
The next day, Saturday, Joan and Mayira took us into the city of
Santiago and showed us some of the different areas of the city and where they
work. We also went to the national park on San Cristobal Hill on top of which
sits the Statue of the Virgin. Being on a hill, some effort is required to
explore the park in the heat. We mostly cheated and took the car up as far as
possible, but a lot of people were out cycling and walking and enjoying the
green space with their families. On the top of the hill we tried our second
traditional Chilean item: mote con huesillo. Served ice cold and traditionally
on national holidays, mote con huesillo is a drink with cooked wheat and whole
rehydrated dried peaches. At first it sounds like an odd combination but it actually
works well together and is so refreshing on a hot day.
Joan and Mayira had two weddings to attend on Saturday night and we
enjoyed a quiet night in on the couch with a movie. Sunday morning was quite
slow after the late night but in the afternoon we headed to one of the local
wine farms in the area. At Santa Rita wine farm we enjoyed a tour of the
beautiful winery and also tasting some of their wine.
San Cristobal Hill with the Statue of the Virgin in the background
Mote con Huesillo!
Overlooking Santiago City
Joan and Mayira
Ready for a night out! Heading to the weddings.
At Santa Rita wine farm
The cellar
Wine tasting!
On Monday morning we went in to work with Joan and Mayira for more exploring
of the city. The city is quite large and it is not possible to see everything
in one day, so we wanted to continue the exploring that we started on Saturday.
First we popped into the PRDW office to say hi to some friends Justin met in
Cape Town and to see the Santiago office. Thereafter we hopped on the metro and
headed to the old city centre and the Plaza de Armas. We were very impressed
with the level of public transport in Chile; Santiago has a very good bus and
metro system and other cities we visited also have a very good bus service.
In all Spanish conquered or built cities there is a Plaza de Armas or
main square typically surrounded by government and other official buildings,
usually a statue and sometimes a fountain. The purpose of the square changes
over time but it usually remains the hub of the city. We enjoyed ambling along
the pedestrianized shopping streets between the metro station and the square. The
square itself is one of the largest we have seen and features the Catedral Metropolitana,
the central post office, the Palacio de la Real, and the municipality buildings
along its periphery. We popped into the cathedral and then made our way to the
central market.
Filled with the usual market things of fresh fish and seafood, fresh
meat, fruit and veg, and the odd craft stall, the central market is a thriving place.
It was lunch time and we were hoping to try one of the many restaurants in the market.
However, they all seemed to have ‘tourist trap’ written all over them. Instead,
we went back to the small but cosy looking empanada place crammed with locals on
the outside corner the market. Empanadas are our favourite Spanish food since
Mayira introduced them to us in Cape Town. This place makes the best high
throughput empanadas ever. We enjoyed standing along the counter munching our
pino (micemeat, onion and an olive) and cheese empanadas just like the locals.
After lunch we walked to the park on Cerro Santa Lucia where we enjoyed
a much needed cold and refreshing mote con huseillo. We also really wanted to
go to at least one museum in Santiago but couldn’t find the one we wanted and
then ran out of time. The rest of the afternoon was spent window shopping and
making our way back to the office.
The Chilean flag
Plaza de Armas with the Cathedral on the left
Mercado Central
The local empanada place
Empanadas!
Topping up the sunblock, it was toasty.
Mote con Huesillo at Cerro Santa Lucia
Joan and Mayira were still working on the morning of Christmas Eve but
were home by lunch time and then it was time for the epic road trip! Both their
families live in Concepcion, about 500 km South of Santiago, and we were off to
spend Christmas with them. It was a long 6 hour drive with some traffic while
getting out of the city but we made it in time for dinner. First we popped into
Mayira’s family in Concepcion to say hello and drop off gifts. Then we made our
way to Joan’s family home 10 minutes away in Talcahuano, the town next to
Concepcion.
Joan’s Mom, Olga, is very creative and has made all kinds of Christmas
decorations for the house. The house just felt so Christmassy, it was great.
Dinner was really lovely with 9 adults and a small child gathered around the
table telling stories and enjoying each other’s company. We were so impressed
with the delicious dinner that came out of that small kitchen! It is tradition
in Chile to wait up and open gifts at midnight so this is what we did. It was
very festive with such a lovely spirit of giving. And of course little Salvador
was the most spoilt! Justin and I had prepared some small gifts for a round of
Yankee Swop at the end of gift giving. It was really fun and a nice way to end
the evening.
Christmas at Joan's parents house
The beautiful Salvador, Joan's brother Daniel's 15 month old son.
Cocktails!
Joan's sister Consuelo and Mom with Salvi
Salvi
Opening gifts
Daniel, Joan's Dad Juan and Joan.
Your reputation precedes you Scoopy!
Bron and Juan
On Christmas day we all went to Mayira’s family home for lunch which was
a lovely braai complete with choripans of course. It was such a lovely family
day. Although we couldn’t follow or participate in much of the conversation in
Spanish we really enjoyed being in a loving family atmosphere again.
This Christmas was really special for us, dinner on Christmas eve and
lunch on Christmas day. It’s been a while since we’ve had a really big family
Christmas and even though it wasn’t our own immediate family, we felt so
welcome and accepted even though we had just met. The two families get on so
well together it really is like one family. It is beautiful to see such a beautiful family still in this age of broken families.
Mayira with her grandmother and Aunt Jacqueline
Braai time! Mayira's Dad Sergio and brother Francesco preparing choripans.
Mayira and her Dad
Lunch time!
Beautiful family!
After lunch Joan and Mayira showed us the university where they studied
engineering and we had a lovely walk around the campus together. The grounds
are open to anyone and a lot of people come here to relax and play on the lawns
on the weekends and holidays. Even on Christmas day afternoon there were a lot
of people milling about and children playing with their new gifts.
Mayira’s Dad owns a small farm about 2 hrs drive North towards Santiago.
He already has some cows and a lovely veggie patch on the farm. The plan now is
to build a house for retirement. Joan and Mayira are helping with this as are
some architects in the family. On Boxing Day we all piled into the car and went
to visit the farm where much discussion about the new house took place. Since then
the first stages of building have already begun. We hope it goes well and you
are happy with your new home! After the farm we all went for a fish and chip
lunch together close to the coast followed by a walk on the beach before the
long drive back to Concepcion.
At the university
On the farm
A treat for the cows
Love
More about our wonderful holiday in Chile to follow in the next post!
For now we are back in Vitoria after almost 12 weeks out of the country,
9 weeks in Lima and 2.5 weeks in Chile. We are enjoying being back but it is
super hot, 33°C every day, and very humid. We prevent melting with frequent swims
in the pool!
Wishing all our readers a Happy New Year! We hope 2014 is a happy and prosperous year for you and your family filled with laughter, joy, surprises and good health.
Until next time, have a good week!
x
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