The Cannon Family's travel blog

Day 21: Rain and baboons and penguins – oh my!

Posted on October 13, 2023 | Leave a comment

Somewhere in what I thought was my infinite wisdom, I decided that our first full day in Cape Town would only be complete by doing an all day tour. Yay? Being one of the umbrella followers that were the bane of my existance in DC was never our thing. But occasionally you need to go to the edge of your comfort zone… or so I’ve been told.

So we woke to the alarm at 6.30 (!), showered and had breakfast on the balcony watching the early morning hang gliders land across the street. But we had a minibus to meet at 7:45 so off we went for our Penguins and Cape of Good Hope tour. The group of 10 (8 from the UK and two wayward Canadians) were at the mercy of Kevin the tour guide to show us all the interesting sights south of the city.

And we got a great tour! We started with a drive down the coast past the most expensive real estate in South Africa in Clifton Beach to the lovely town of Camps Bay before hitting our first stop in Houts Bay for a seal watching trip. We took a short boat ride to a set of rocks outside the harbour where a colony of sea lions were enjoying a lovely mild day. Some of them were hamming it up in the harbour before we left but most of them were enjoying being pretty much left alone – especially the new born seal whose mother was still removing the birth sac.

Then it was back to the van to continue south. But out progress was severely impeded by the appearance of a troop of baboons (look it up – it’s the right collective noun!). Just wandering down the road, and in some instances across the road, they were happily ignoring us while we snapped furiously with cameras and phones. Once we were clear to proceed, we made our way to visit some lovely ostriches at a farm inside the national park. The more unusual animals the better!

We climbed back in the van as the clouds continue to gather and glower. We made it to the Cape of Good Hope for the obligatory photo with the sign (there was a queue for the priviledge!) and a few snaps of the amazing scenery before the sprinkles started and we were back in the protection of the Toyota Hiace. We were headed for the lighthouse point on the cape to take the funicular to the top but the rain was now fairly steady thereby guaranteeing that there was no point in paying the ZAR 100 fee to go look through the clouds. We instead voted to head out to Simon’s Town for lunch so off the group went.

And it was a lovely little town, very much catering to tourists unless local people care a lot about African handicrafts and socks with elephants on them. Half of our group decided that the suggested restaurant wasn’t to their liking and so they tromped off. The rest of us enjoyed a very nice lunch by the water. Frank went for the kudu burger (a kind of antelope) while I went for the fresh kingklip, a meaty white fish vey much like hake. We were joined by the Canadians and the lovely couple from Maidenhead in England and a good time was had by all.

The rain had let up so we had a few minutes to peruse the town and look through the shops before heading to the highlight of the day: the penguins at Boulders Beach. OMG! I can’t even begin to describe how adorable the colony (or rookery!) of penguins was. The photos below are just a fraction of what we took. Definitely the highlight of the day!

But the day was nearly done so back to town we must go. I do need to point out that the entire time we were in the van, our lovely tour guide Kevin had been giving us all the history we could manage as well as tips about where to go (or not go!) and other safety tips about Cape Town. It was now rush hour and we slogged north to make our way to the colourful Bo-Kaap neighborhood. I have seen it described as “the most Instagrammable neighborhood in Cape Town”. UGH. It was very cute but the photos won’t do it justice because the the continuing threat of clouds in the background.

After a very long day with our fellow travelers, it was time to say good bye. We had enough time for a cup of tea before heading to Bobo’s for dinner. A short walk from our flat in Sea Point to Mouille Point, it was an amazing dinner. Cocktails to start followed by three courses and a lovely bottle of Chenin Blanc. Fantastic meal all the way around for about half of what we would have paid at home. The half hour walk home was a welcome opportunity for digestion. Unfortunately, it got us back to the flat for the second half of the Scotland-Spain match which didn’t do anything for the digestion (insert complaint about biased referees here! That was an amazing corner kick!) but tomorrow is another day.

Data for today:

Steps: 15,946 or 7.5 miles (we were slacking!)
Calories consumed: I have no idea so don’t ask me.
Penguins that I wanted to take home: 12 or 14. Some were moulting so less cute.
Number of tchotchkes purchased: NONE. (We were being very good.)

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Posted in South Africa

Day 20: Hello Capetown!

Posted on October 11, 2023 | Leave a comment

Our cunning plan for a relaxed transition seemed to have worked perfectly (for a change!) We got up to a reasonbly timed alarm (6.30) to shower and dress for the completion of the outward bound travel. The hotel breakfast was a delight (and so cheap!) then we walked back to the terminal to check in for our domestic flight. This was a completely separate ticket from Joburg to Cape Town on one of the many domestic airlines. I’ve seen bus routes that are less well covered! There is an A330 flying from JBN to CPT every 20-30 minutes – and that’s just on FlySafair! There are other similar airlines!

We arrived at the requested 90 minutes prior to take off, had nothing to check, spent 5 minutes in the security line (no liquids need to be removed?) then had WAY to much time to wait. The flight boarded on time, took off with little issue, and landed just a few minutes late. Yes, it was a budget airline that charged us for the fizzy water we asked for but whatever. When it was time to deplane, the most amazing thing happened: there was NO mass chaos to get bags out of the bins when the seat belt sign went off. Instead, everyone sat calmly and waited for the flight attendant to dismiss their row – like we were in grade school. It was amazing!

We had prebooked a ride from the airport and a lovely man with our name on a sign was waiting in the main area of the airport. And 30 minutes later, we pulled up in front of our AirBnB apartment in the Seapoint area of Cape Town. The art deco building was similar to other architecure in the area (reminded me a bit of South Beach actually) and our flat is just lovely with lots of space and a view of the ocean.

But first we needed some food. So off we went to explore the neighborhood. We had lunch at a French tapas bistro (?) because nothing says “Welcome to South Africa” like a French style wine bar serving Spanish small plates! But the food was lovely and the prices unbelievable – £3 for a glass of good rosé! Then our favourite vacation activity: the local supermarket! Because we have an apartment, we can have breakfast at home so we needed some supplies (and wine. We always need wine!). It turns out that GF bread isn’t much of a thing here but we managed to find muesli and crackers to go with the fruit, yogurt and cheese.

Back to the flat for a quick meeting (some vacation!) and then a wander along the coast. We thought we would take a nice long walk along the beach to get to the V&A waterfront to find a nice place for dinner. About 2 miles into the walk, we noticed that street parking was becoming a challenge – random guys were “helping” people to find parking, for a fee of course – and stumbled upon the Oranjezicht City Night Market – a gourmet farmer’s market with crafts, food, booze, and loads of people and fun. We couldn’t have found a more perfect way to spend our first night in Cape Town! I was hoping for some fresh sea food and got swordfish with hand cut chips. Frank had a hand carved roast beef sandwich and chips. Throw in some local beer and cider, some music and craft stalls and the evening was complete. We started our Christmas shopping (shh! don’t tell our kids!) and then wandered back to the apartment. Another small bit of work (dissertation grades submitted!) and it was time for our first day to end. Tomorrow is our first excursion so we need our beauty sleep!

Data for today:

Steps: 21,171 or 10.1 miles
Number of flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town every day: 51
Rough exchange rate: 25 ZAR to 1 GBP (terrible mental math!)
Cost of a very nice bottle of South African Rosé: 64 ZAR (yes, that’s correct. My liver is already sad.)

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Posted in South Africa

Day 18/19: Aberdeen pitstop

Posted on October 11, 2023 | Leave a comment

We have a day and a half(ish) between adventures and once the luggage finally got delivered (at 8pm – luckily we were still awake! ) we got ready for the next part of the odyssey. Because the dryer decided to pack in the night before we left for round 1, we knew that we had to get all the washing done straight away to allow time to dry before repacking. A quick 30 minute eco wash, a full drying rack in the spare room and we could finally get some shut eye.

And then it was Monday – a real work day and back to the classroom for me! A wonderful colleague had been kind enough to cover 2 lectures while I was gone so now it was time to reclaim my module and get into the nitty gritty of modelling and logistic regression. Woo hoo! It was interesting since there were quite a few students who had missed the first week due to visa and relocation issues and they had NO IDEA who I was or why I was in front of the classroom.

Once I had dazzled them with my amazing knowledge, it was back to marking dissertations and preparing for round two of travel. The weather gods had been kind enough to give us a few dry hours to get the clothes out on the line so repacking was possible. We needed a quick trip to the shop to pick up a ready meal for dinner (shepherd’s pie – yum!) and a nice bottle of French red before the entertainment commenced.

We had a big decision to make: check bags or no. We only had an hour to change planes in Amsterdam and having just been through that we decided that the AMS ground crew could not be trusted to get our stuff to the 10+ hour flight to Johannesburg. So we played the “how much can we fit in a regulation size carry one bag” game. Luckily, this half of the trek had fewer business attire requirements: the first week is strictly holiday and the second week is an IASSIST conference which is WAY more laid back than the central banker gatherings. Given that we had successfully done 10 days in Portugal with just a carry on and we were staying in an AirBnB with a washing machine, we decided to give it a shot.

The taxi collected us at 4am (!!!) for our 6am flight. Another airport breakfast and a short hop to AMS and we were power walking through the airport to get to our gate. KLM had notified us the previous day that for “operational and load” reasons, they had changed our seats so we got the bulkhead row in premium economy – yay! Lots of leg room and no one to climb over to get to the loo.

It was a very smooth and uneventful 10.5 hours – I paid for the in-flight wifi and got all my marking (including second marking) done and the outline of my keynote speech drafted before my brain shut down and it was time to watch the latest Indiana Jones movie. (Cute but nothing special.). We landed on time and made it to the airport hotel where we stopped for a snack and a glass of South African wine. Then off to get good night’s sleep before our short flight to Cape Town tomorrow. All in all, a successful pitstop.

Data for today:

Miles from Aberdeen to Johannesburg: 8500(ish)
Weight of our carry on luggage: 4 pieces @ 6ish kg each = 25 kg
Time to ABZ at 4am: 17 minutes
Number of white wines KLM was kind enough to provide: 4

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Posted in South Africa

Days 11-17: Working and wandering

Posted on October 8, 2023 | Leave a comment

Days like these make for difficult travel blog writing since most of the time was spent doing that work thing. At least for one of us. Frank being the “retired” man of leisure had slightly different activities for the bulk of this week.

We managed to arrive in DC without incident: passengers and bags! We got to check in to our hotel downtown early and freshen up a bit before San headed out to work. Frank spent the afternoon wandering around downtown DC and visiting some of our old haunts from when we were first married. After a few hours getting things sorted, it was time for dinner and we met a friend and headed to one of my former favourite spots: Founding Farmers. I got the bacon wrapped dates and the bacon lollies that we used to love to snack on with a bottle of malbec. Alas, the experience did not give the warm fuzzies that I had hoped for – in fact, the restaurant wasn’t quite as good as I remembered. And then there was the “Wellness Charge” – apparently DC restaurants have decided to charge 3.5 -5% of the bill in a charge to help them cover their Covid related losses and other expense increases. WTF? A surcharge? Honestly, I even though I’m a macro type, I understand the menu cost pricing model but this was ridiculous! Grrrrrr…..

But I was saved from such outrage for the next few days as I was busy helping to host a conference for data folks here. That meant long days in a windowless conference centre with conference centre food…. Yum…. But that was the reason for the visit so I did my 7am-9pm shifts (with the occasional glass of wine!) and hoped Frank was having a good time.

Apparently while I work, he… shops? In between visits with friends and the massive pile of laundry that I tasked him with washing, he was hitting the shops to pick up things that we either can’t get at home or are WAY cheaper in the US. We had packed relatively lightly and even with the wine and sundries from Chile, we should be good for weight going home. (One hopes?)

After 3 long days, it was time for some time together. We checked out of the downtown hotel and headed for the burbs – our old haunts and good friends were waiting! First stop, Manassas where some Fairport friends had relocated. After a quick Walmart run (I needed stuff too!) we met for lunch and a drink or 3. Oh and a lot of laughs! Then our next stop was more old friends who had been kind enough to offer us a place to stay for the night. Dinner at Mike’s American Grill was just the ticket and we had a wonderful visit.

And then the final day in DC dawned. It happens to be our 34^th anniversary – yay us! We did a few more driveby visits before it was time to head to the airport. A pretty smooth process all around and even a slightly delayed departure didn’t get in the way of making our connection. However, we can’t say the same for the bags. You guessed it – luggage delayed AGAIN!!!! {sigh}

Hopefully they’ll deliver it soon as we only have 42 hours before we do it all over again – next stop: South Africa! Stay tuned.

Data for this week:

Hours San spent in a windowless room with other data geeks: 29
Miles Frank put on the rental car (mostly without her): 200? (Avis statement isn’t ready yet)
Number of gluten free meals that were also vegan even though San isn’t: 6
Number of hugs from old friends and new: Dozens 💕

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Posted in Transit, USA

Day 9/10: Adios Santiago; Hello DC!

Posted on October 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

Our last day in Chile dawned grey and dull – as if Santiago wanted us to leave. We had requested a late checkout so Frank could het plant of sleep and I could get some work done. We squeezed I breakfast and some packing time as well (The packing was more challenging this time due to the presence of dirty clothes and my determination to have one business-appropriate outfit in each case and my backpack. Not doing the shopping thing again) Finally one of us was napped out and one had eyes blurry from marking dissertations, so it was time to checkout.

Because we were in a big fancy hotel, we could leave the bags with the concierge while we spent our last day wandering the city. Slowly wandering that is. Between Frank’s mucous and a screaming neuroma in my right foot, we would be breaking no land speed records today. But we had 5 hours until we would be leaving for the airport so we headed toward downtown to get some culture.

And of course we had to pass by our favorite pastime along the way: a wine festival! The second day of Dia del Vino was in full swing along Avenitas Andre Bello. As tempting as it sounded, we didn’t think that drinking lots of wine on a damp chilly day before getting on an overnight flight was really the best way for Frank to recuperate. {sigh}

So we plodded onward to the Museum of pre Columbian art. And it was fascinating! So much history and cool stuff from the region dating back thousands of years. My favorite part was the data knots: a textile based accounting system from the 14th century. Yes, I am that nerd!

After checking out every exhibit – cuz we had nothing but time – we headed back across town to pick up our stuff and head to the airport 4 hours ealy (!!). Not something we do in Aberdeen but apparently very necessary in Santiago. We got checked in, grabbed something to eat and boarded the plane.

Because we were on two separate bookings – mine made by the sponsor of my trip and his made by me – we weren’t scheduled to be seated together mostly I bought Frank a better ticket than I had! I had tried to purchase an upgrade to join him but the online system told me that wasn’t going to happen. So we asked at the checkin desk and were told that it would cost about $1000 USD for me to move 10 rows forward! Bye honey – see you in Atlanta! I was lucky enough to have an exit row seat – the one where no one sits in front of you – and then won the “empty middle seat lottery”. With the exception of the most boring catering you could possibly have in the air, the flight was fine. I managed about 4 hours sleep. Frank didn’t do so well even in his fancy “Comfort +” seat.

We landed early in Atlanta and joined the security farce that is changing planes in the US. How does it make sense that we land at an airport, disembark and pass through passport control to a secure area, collect our bags in that secure area, walk past a customs desk that no one is at, then reload our bags to another plane – still in a secure area – and have to go through security AGAIN! How does this make sense? How does it make people safer to have to pick up their luggage froma belt in one room then put it on a belt in another room? If this is so great, why doesn’t the rest of the world do it? </soapbox>

We managed to make our connection with time to spare so we could get some overpriced and overcooked airport coffee before boarding our flight to DC. One thing I love about Delta Airlines is that they scan the bag tags at every transfer point so we knew both our bags had made the plane. Our lucky “distributed packing” insurance worked! We grabbed the bags, got in a cab and headed to hotel number 2 for the trip.

Then I had to go to work. Grrr. Frank got to walk around in the 26 degree sunshine and remember what our young, newly wed life was like living in the big city. Dinner at a favorite haunt with our favorite Swiss dude made staying up worth the effort. Now for 3 days of actual work for me. See you when it’s play time again.

Data for today:

Steps for two days: 31,205
Number of miles walked: 14
Number of miles flown: 5241
Time zones involved: 2
Number of fortuitous meetings on K Street: 1 (and it was amazing!)

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Posted in Chile, USA

Day 8: Of mists and minor maladies

Posted on October 1, 2023 | Leave a comment

We slept so well in our temporary home and were greeted by breakfast being delivered. Because it’s a small hotel, there is no bar or restaurant so our breakfast came on trays that we could eat in the minikitchen. Scrambled eggs and gluten free bread for me, ham and cheese with freshly baked rolls for Frank. Plus a full litre of fresh pinapple juice, coffee, muffins and fresh fruit. YUM!

After demolishing that and packing up, we were headed slightly up the cost to the beach town of Viña del Mar. This is supposed to be the place where all of Santiago goes to get out of the city. It is a lovely beach town but since it is early spring here, the weather and the vibe are not really very beachy. We started the day with a visit to the Reloj de Flores (Flower Clock) – functioning clock garden built for the 1962 World Cup which Chile hosted. As the only major tourist attraction in town, it was quite busy but we got our obligatory snaps even though the day was pretty damp and grey.

Then we started to wander into and around town. We saw the cool castle that isn’t open and we saw huge rocks covered with pelicans (a pod of pelicans apparently). We were wandering much more slowly than had been the case in the past because Frank has started to come down with something. We thought the stuffy nose was allergies but the post nasal drip and scratchy throat indicate maybe it’s something more. (NOT Covid) Given the weather and the lack of interesting non-beach things to do, a full day in town may be more than we are really interested in. Of course the town is busy: apparently there is a big marathon on here tomorrow as there are banners everywhere. 5K and 10K runners were busy this morning and the packet pick up for the marathon was mobbed.

After we ran out of things to do, we grabbed some lunch. (Notice we have stopped planning to eat and now we are grabbing things. Ugh.) Then we changed our return bus ticket to come back earlier. Once we arrived in Santiago, we ordered an Uber – driven by Wendy – where my bad Spanish was very necessary. Apparently one of us needed to sit in front with her so it wouldn’t be “illegal” – okay, we’ll send the lurgy one up front. Then as we get close to the hotel we see police lights parked on the street RIGHT OUTSIDE the hotel. Then Wendy explains that *Uber* is illegal in Chile (how does the app even work then?!) so she needs to drop us off away from the police. I’m fine with that – avoiding embassy involvement is one of my prime rules.

We manage to saunter casually and not guiltily back to the hotel where Frank gets put to bed while I get some work done. (Apparently, disserations don’t mark themselves? Seriously?) He did manage to gain consciousness long enough to walk around the corner for food. Again, this was not a planned dining experience but a necessity to consume some calories. Of course, that didn’t stop him from having a sandwich that is basically a Chilean cheese steak. (No mas queso!) I opted for a simple pork tenderloin with baked potato. Nothing to write home about really except for the part where I am. 🙂

We have a late checkout tomorrow so he should be able to get plenty of rest and I might actually get a few disserations marked. And then it’s another “Work for San, Play for Frank” week.

Data for today:

Steps: 16,369 or 7.6 miles
Average pace: 26 min/mile
Normal pace: 18 min/mile
Number of times San actually translated from Spanish: 6 (not everyone speaks English!)
Number of hours Frank better sleep: at least 10! (He’s terrible at being sick!)

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Posted in Uncategorized

Day 7: ¡Vamos a la playa!

Posted on September 30, 2023 | Leave a comment

Today we were headed out of Santiago to the coast. We breakfasted early and packed our backpacks for an overnight trip. (I felt a tiny bit guilty about my kind sponsor for the trip paying for the room when we weren’t using it but I got over that!) Then we hopped in the hotel car and headed for the bus station. Yup, we were traveling like locals – except for the hotel taxi part. We would have taken the subway but it was rush hour and we’re not that adventurous!

Granted we weren’t taking the local bus where you stand a the bus stop until one arrives. We had reserved seats on the 8.25 bus to Valparaiso using one of the local bus companies – think Greyhound or Stagecoach. The first challenge was to finding the right bus station: apparently Santiago has 7 of them! And of course the driver dropped us off at the wrong one! How did I know? My toddler Spanish of course! ¿Está este autobus aqui? ¿No – donde?. We were able to figure out we needed to go the terminal next door and managed to board the correct bus.

And then we barreled to the coast through the mists of the Casablanca valley where the white wine grapes grow well. We passed through a range of hills and then were at the coast. We disembarked and started walking to our hotel through some very interesting parts of the city. I’ve often wondered if they choose to put bus stations in unsavoury parts of town or if the causality runs the other way. After about half an hour we appeared to have arrived at the center of town and faced our first experience of Valparaiso – hills. 42 of them to be precise (or 44 according to some accounts so maybe not so precise!) We managed the slog up Cerro Allegre to San Enrique street and our home for the night.

I don’t always randomly pick a good hotel from online websites but this time we hit the jackpot. The Augusta Apart Hotel is a small boutique place with just 6 rooms. Ours was number 4 with an AMAZING view of the city and the harbor – if you look at the hotel website, it’s the second from the top. The owner allowed us to check in early so we could drop off our backpacks and do some planning. She also walked us through some suggestions for what to do and where to go and then made dinner reservations for us at her recommended restaurant. Perfecto! So it was off to do some wandering which is definitely our thing. Valparaiso is built on a series of hills with funky architecture and pretty random buildings stuck to the sides of the slopes. Colorful houses, a definite bohemian vibe and more street art (and graffiti) than you an possibly imagine. And we wanted to see it all plus eat some fresh seafood and enjoy the coast.

It was chillier here than in Santiago but by the time we got moving the morning fog had burned off and we had lovely walking weather. It would have been lovelier if there was some part of the city besides the harbor that was flat but at lease we’d be earning our lunch! We wandered all over (read: up and down) taking in the sights before heading to a lovely place for lunch. I had “sealed tuna” – Google translate doen’t ALWAYS get it quite right – and Frank had the flat iron steak – both with Chilean wine of course! The fog/mist moved in and out through out the day so some photos are better than others.

I know that I tend to post a LOT of photos of street art but this time it just isn’t possible to show it all. I have posted below the art of a duo known as Un Kolor Disntinto from Santiago who have really covered the spaces of Valparaiso with their oddly intriguing work.

So after covering at least 3 of the hills, we needed a break. Back to our lovely hotel for a glass of wine and some down time. A shower and several hands of cribbage later, we were back out wandering the streets – this time in search of sunset views. While Valparaiso does look over the Pacific, the part of the city we were in faced north which doesn’t do much for sun rise or set. I had read a recommendation for having a drink on the patio of a particular hotel so we toddled along, glad that it was close to the restaurant. The “sunset view” was a bit of a disappointment but the pisco sours were lovely. Then it was time to go to La Concepcion for our 8pm dinner reservation. What a fantastic meal! The view over the harbor was outstanding – made even more so when we go to watch the moon rise. We had a local savignon blanc (I’m coming around to this wine!) and ceviche to start. Then it was Frank’s turn for tuna while I had some local fish that I never could translate correctly (I suspect it was hake) but everything was delicious! Then back to the hotel for a breathtaking view of the city at night for the 10 minutes we were able to stay awake.

Data for today:

Steps: 20,909 or 9.7 miles
Flights climbed: 62 (felt like 1,062!)
Cribbage standings: Frank 2, San 1 (this round!)
Minutes to fall asleep: <Missing>

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Posted in Chile

Day 6: Seeing Santiago

Posted on September 28, 2023 | Leave a comment

Now that the official work part of the trip is done*, it was time for an easy day. We slept in and enjoyed a leisurely morning with a few Zoom calls with friends in both the US and Africa. Then we headed out to see what else Santiago had to offer.

Today wasn’t quite fair to Frank since he had spent the last two days covering miles of territory while I sat in a hotel conference room for hours on end. But he had things to show me and we had meat to walk off. Our fantastic meal at La Cabrera last night was weighing pretty heavy on both of us – demasiado carne! – so we were aiming to get some steps in.

And steps we got! We started with a walk along tha Mapocho River all the way across town to Santa Lucia hill, the remains of a volcano and where it is said that Santiago was born. We climbed to the top to appreciate the views of the city – a bit of fog/smog hung around so the mountains were not nearly as impressive as they generally are. Then off to see the rest of the sights.

We wandered around the Plaza de Armas, the main square of Santiago, where I think every Chilean 4th grader was on a field trip. There were SO MANY smallish children as well as old men, possible sex workers, stands selling galletas magicas (yup, homemade edibles!). We wandered into the cathedral which was beautiful – and also hosting a mass so no photos were in the cards. (Side note: it’s amazing that although I haven’t been to a Catholic mass for decades – probably my wedding! – and it was being conducted in Spanish, I still knew exactly what was going on! )

Eventually it was time to find some food. I hate to say this but I’m tired of eating. Sacrilege, I know. But when we are at home, eating is easy: walk into the kitchen, find something appealing which will most likely be there because it’s your house and you buy the food. You don’t ever think about the fact that you likely eat very similar things in the same place most days. When you are travelling, it’s an entire PROCESS that doesn’t always make you happy. I’m not even getting into the issues involved with special diets because it will just make me weep openly. This is just the finding somewhere to eat, deciding what to eat, paying for what you ate, and then doing it all over again several times a day. And there is an underlying assumption that you don’t eat at the same place multiple times, as you would at home, because somehow that’s wasting an opportunity. {sigh}

It’s not that there isn’t a multitude of options here because there are. You can have empanadas from any store in any flavor in any size. There are fancy places, takeout places, Chinese food (so funny!), sushi, McDonalds, Little Caesers (!)…. the list goes on. But that is exactly the problem: too. many. choices. </soapbox>

We found a nice cafe/bar near one of the universities – of which there are SO many – and had a pretty simple lunch. Which we ordered entirely in Spanish. And that meant that Frank had no idea what kind of sandwich he was getting. (Turned out to be a kind of pulled pork which was delicious). We sat outside and tolerated the stupid smokers so we could watch the world go by. We were visited by one of Santiago’s many street dogs, watched people beg for food scraps from the table next to us, and then were serenaded by a misplaced Chilean lounge singer who really wanted us to like him. So interesting!

We headed back across the river to see if Barrio Bellavista was any different on Thursday than it was on Saturday. More aimless wandering through small sidestreets, peering in shop windows, and just taking in the scenery. And then…. we were done. It was like a bolt of lighting hit and we were no longer interested in just about anything. Especially walking around the city so we wanted to stop walking. But we had a good 2 miles to get back to the hotel. So walk we must.

I’m pretty sure we looked a bit like zombies as we trudged back east. Not much witty conversation, stumbling over the occasional tree root, desperate to find a gelato place that wasn’t creepy. Eventually we managed both the gelato – yummy! – and the trudge home. A cheap bottle of Chilean rosé was procured from the local shop and we crashed into the room. Of course I had work to do but Frank napped while I drank the rosé. And then it was time to do the eating thing all over again.

After a brief respite, we managed to hobble around the corner to the place we had lunch yesterday. We had the same camarera bonita who smiled and forgave our bad Spanish. A much more reasonably sized meal (with a full bottle of carmenere from the Maipo valley) was enjoyed. A little familiarity feels nice sometimes.

*I still have lots of work that needs to be done but it doesn’t involve a suit, powerpoint, or a microphone.

Data for today:

Steps: 28,622 or 13.7 miles
Hills climbed: 1 (Google says it was 12 floors but then Google said Porto was “mostly flat”)
Glasses of sangria: 1
Hours of work accomplished: 2
Degree of exhaustion: 12/10

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Posted in Uncategorized

Day 4/5: The work days

Posted on September 27, 2023 | Leave a comment

Minimal post to assure folks that we are still alive. These are the days that required my business attention. Luckily, my business clothes had finally arrived. First a full day of conference sessions about the data challenges for the statistics function at central banks. (VERY interesting BTW). Then an official dinner where Frank got to charm the central bank data folks – I was quite proud.

The second day was my day to shine, I mean present. I’m glad I didn’t know that it was being streamed/recorded or I would have been maybe slightly nervous (no, that’s not a thing!) I was quite proud that I hit my 20 minute mark right on the dot – so unlike me!

A few more meetings and the day was done! We managed to snag a table at a fabulous restaurant where we had WAY to much food (demasiada comida) and wine but we ordered it in fractured Spanish with a very jovial waiter who never made fun of our linguistic short comings.

Data for today:

Amount of time I had for my presentation: 20 minutes.
Number of times I practiced: 6
Number of times I hit the time target during practice: 0
Number of economist jokes I snuck in: 5

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Day 3: WINE! And some luggage

Posted on September 27, 2023 | Leave a comment

Today is one of the few days where we have something formal planned: a wine tour! We are usually the “we’ll do it ourselves” type but that would involve driving after wine tasting which is no fun at all. So we booked a tour and joined 10 others plus a tour guide and driver for a day of vinotourism in the Maipo Valley.

After a hearty breakfast, we were the first pickup for the tour. In the 1 hour that it took to get through the city with the additional pickups, we were joined by a father and daughter from Stornaway (LOVE the island accents!), two new lawyers from England, two young lassies (as they say at home) from London, two more from the Netherlands, and then two lovely ladies from Austrailia. In our comfy minivan with Juanito at the where and Carmalita doing commentary on Chilean history, we were off to the Maipo Valley. (Side note: our van apparently interupted a news conference that the mayor of Santiago was having on the stree outside the government building. If anyone sees that footage with a van of waving tourists in the background, please let me know.)

Our first stop was a family farmsted/winery that produces a relatively small amount for local consumption. We learned about the history and the “production process” – very human capital intensive! And then we got to taste the wine – the most generous pours I have ever had at a winery. Interspersed with the wine were generous shots of pisco, the distilled grape liquor that is a staple in Chile and Peru. So our Chilean breakfast was an excellent first stop.

After our tasting and visit to the family alpacas (so cute!), we were off to the next vinyard. A slightly larger establishment with fabulous views and an equally lovely carmeniere (which may have purchased a few bottles of… 😯

Then to another winery where there was no formal tasting but instead we got lunch. To accompany some delicious risotto, we polished off a bottle of lovely rosé. By this time we were all very friendly and a wonderful time was being had by all. Our final stop was a very established winery where we toured the vinyards and then tasted a variety of both red and white wines. While I consider myself well versed in the production of wine, it was very interesting to hear how different families decided to implement their dream in the southern hemisphere.

After much imbibing (muchas bebidas!) it was time to head back to the city. On the way I got word that my case had finally arrived from Madrid. You may recall that we were never in Madrid but apparently my luggage got the opportunity. (I feel like this is the old Groucho Marx joke about shooting an elephant in his pajamas!) We returned from a day of drinking to my lost belongings and were very happy to celebrate with dinner at a local restaurant that featured a bottle of carmeniere from one of the visited wineries.