His sore throat was a blessing in disguise because today was a miserable day. It was cold, damp and foggy. Now, I don’t know if that is what it would have been like on the mountain, but if it was, I am glad that we didn’t go. Hopefully, we will go next weekend.
So, today was a rest day. We did walk to a park and there was a flea market there. I think it happens every Sunday. A couple of real interesting items were a couple pair of stir-ups. The were a work of art! They were carved out of wood. There are pictures of them on my “webshots” page. The pair on the left are Spanish during the days when they ruled. The ones on the right, are from the Mapuche, the indigenous people of Chile. They were just so beautiful and amazing! The other thing that caught my eye were the wooden wheels. The vendor said that they were only about 80 years old, and they were pretty amazing. I think they would make unique tables!
The other interesting event that happened in the park was this huge bus pulled up. Out from it poured men carrying various instruments. They set up in the bandstand area of the park and started playing beautiful music! It was a wonderful surprise for such a dreary day.
Yesterday, after David got out of work, we wandered downtown and visited a couple of churches. One was the Basilica of Santiago. It was very large, beautiful and in the rococo style. The day was ended with hot chocolate and churros at a Basque restaurant, Pinpilinpausha on Isidora Goyenechea Avenue. The chocolate was thick but not overly sweet or hot like we are used to in the states. The churros are a fried dough that are in a round, tube shape and were very good.
So, here is to another week of work and studying Spanish. I keep thinking of how great it will be when I can really understand all the wonderful things these people are telling me!