James & Quene travelling around the World

Hola desde el continente Americano,
Hemos decidido que desde que el primer idioma aca es español, en nuestro blog este sera el primer idioma que pondremos, a diferencia de los posts anteriores, esperamos hacer este continente igual de interesante.
ENGLISH: “Hola” from the American continent. As Spanish is the first language in this part of the world, we decided to put the blog in Spanish first, then English. Here´s hoping this continente is just as impressive as the previous ones we´ve visited.

Este es el taxi que nos llevo desde el aeropuerto hasta el centro de Santiago…No.. es bromaaaa!! Este inmenso coche estaba aparcado enfrente de nuestro hostal en Valparaiso, todo oxidado pero aun imponiendo su clase.

ENG: This is the taxi that we took from the airport into Santiago city centre! Ahh, only joking! This huge car from the 50s was parked outside the hostel we stayed in in Valparaiso. All rusted, but still showing it´s might! Would be an awesome ´Pimp my Ride´ job!

Cuando llegamos aqui pensando que no tendriamos ningun problema con el idioma, una de las grandes diferencias es la comida: Colaciones (plato del dia) , porotos (frijoles o judias), palta (aguacate)..

ENG: When we got here we thought we wouldn´t have any problems, both of us speaking Spanish, but one of the major differences between Spanish here and in Spain is the vocabulary the use for food: Colaciones (in spain: plato del dia=dish of the day), porotos (Spain:frijoles=beans). Oh and completas italianas are hot dogs with guacamole, yummy, but no idea what they are until you are served them on a plate!

Esta es la estacion Mapocho, antigua estacion de tren que ahora se utiliza como salas de arte, alli vimos a 3 grandes españoles : Goya, Miro y Picasso.´

ENG: This is the former train station Mapocho, now used as an art gallery, strangely enough we visited an exhibition titled 3 Great Masters from Spain: Goya, Miro and Picasso.

La Chascona que significa en Chile la despeinada ese es el nombre que Pablo Neruda (Poeta y premio Nobel de Literatura en 1971) le dio a su tercera mujer Matilde Urrutia, y ese mismo nombre es la de su casa en Santiago, con sabor marinero lleno de pinturas miles de objetos de todos sus viajes.

ENG: This is the 3rd house of the famous Chilean poet and politician Pablo Neruda, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1971. THe house is called La Chascona, chilean slang for bad hair day, literally referring to his 3rd wife, Matilde Urrutia, for whom he built this house as a love nest. Full of objects from all around the world he collected on his travels as well as sailing memorabilia. The film ´Il Postino´ (The Postman) was about him when he was exiled in Italy.

Vista de Santiago desde el Parque Municipal desde donde se puede ver toda la ciudad y si tienes suerte y ha llovido el dia anterior se pueden ver los impresionantes Andes, tras varios meses sin llover y con toda la polucion nosotros solo vimos la silueta de los Andes. Una ciudad de 6milliones, una proporcion muy alta de los 15milliones que viven en todo el pais.

ENG: Some views of Santiago from the hill in the Parque Municipal. This one of the most polluted cities in the world, and clearly you can see, but on a clear day, usually just after the rain has cleared up the skies, you can see the impressive Andes, about 50km to the east, we could just make them out as a silouhette. Santiago is home to some 6 million people, a large portion of the 15million living in the country.

Tras tres dias en Santiago visitando museos y dandonos mil caminatas decidimos ir a conocer Valparaiso para limpiar los pulmones, puerto perquero y militar, aqui esta el Congreso, pero sobre todo es conocido por sus miles de casas de colores en sus colinas, ciudad de artistas y bohemios donde lo mas interesante que se puede hacer aqui es perderse entre sus calles y admirar los murales y la arquitectura.

ENG: After 3 days in Santiago visiting museums, and walking for what seemed like miles (this place is huge), and not to mention the breathing difficulties due to the pollution, we decided to head to the coastal port city of Valparaiso, home to the navy and the seat of government. Valparaiso is famous for its hills and the colourful houses there, as well as the artists and bohemians living there. The best thing you can do here is just wander around the streets admiring the colourful architecture and the murals painted on almost every wall!

Se puede visitar el museo a cielo abierto con sus murales en las paredes de las casas.

ENG: This is the open air museum famous for the murals on the house walls.

Esta instalacion se llama la bicicleta de subida, yo al principio entendi la bicicleta de su vida, en esta esquina ha una tienda de arte, Manolo su dueño nos estuvo contando sobre la cultura Maya y su interesante calendario (que por cierto segun este calendario este cicle solar acabara en el 2012), ya os iremos contando mas detalles, o podeis visitar esta pagina si os gusta estos temas: http://www.antaresdelsur.cl/index.htm

ENG: This bicycle was part of an installation, and sits on the wall of an art gallery, we spoke to the owner, Manolo, who gave us some in depth explanations of the Mayan culture and their amazing solar calendar (by the way the current solar cycle ends in 2012, not sure what happens after that..!!!!) This website explains it all a bit more detailed, but he, it´s in Spanish,. I´m sure you can find something similar in ENglish if you take the time to look: http://www.antaresdelsur.cl/index.htm

Una de las cosas que cuando llegas llama mas la atencion es el numero de perros vagabundos, tanto en Santiago como en Valparaiso, de todas las razas y tamaños, este perro particularmente nos llamo la atencion, no por el ruido que hacia la cadena cuando andaba, sino por su mirada (tambien se ofrecio a enseñarnos un poco de Valparaiso), en Santiago hasta a saben que tienen que cruzar por los pasos subterraneos si no quieren ser atropellados… Los mas afortunados tienen un techo donde dormir pero se asoman a la calle con envidia de la libertad que tienen los demas perros.

ENG: One of the first things you notice here is the number of dogs roaming the streets, both in Valparaiso as well as Santiago, dogs of all sizes and breeds. This particular doggy caught our attention, not only because of the noise the chain made as he walked up and down, but also his gaze (seemed like he wanted to show us around Valparaiso too!!!). In Santiago they even know where to cross the streets, waiting for the little green man to appear, they even use the underground Metro walkways to cross the busier intersections! The luckier ones have roofs over their heads, but they seem to look out with envy at the freedom the rest of the dogs have!

Y claro no hay perro sin gatos, con lo independientes que son los gatos parece que su unica preocupacion era esconderse de los perros y encontrar la cena de esta noche.

ENG: Of course where there are dogs there are cats. Being much more independent, their main worry is where to hide from the dogs and find that nights meal.

Mañana nos vamos al sur Punta Arenas, esperamos que el tiempo nos mejore para poderos enseñar este impresionante pais, como dicen por aqui: muy parecido a Nueva Zelanda pero a lo grande..! siempre a lo grande!

ENG: Tomorrow we fly down to Punta Arenas (literally Sandy Point), 4.5 hr flight to the capital of Patagonia in the very far south, to take a look at what Chile has to offer. They even say here, it´s very similar to New Zealand, but on a gigantic scale!

Nos Vemos abajo de todo.

We´ll see you at the bottom of the world!

J&Q