Social life (Part II)

Let it go
After all the excitement of the trip to Valparaíso, quiet days ahead in Santiago. Friday saw me doing my laundry, having breakfast in a café, spending time at a pool, sorting pics, flickr-ing and blogging, having another (iced) coffee… And in the evening I was set to go out for dinner or drinks with a […] Read More

Sights, smells and sounds

Let it go
Valparaíso is… hard to describe. It has its grand, old buildings, and all this little ones, full of graffiti, some really run down… it’s not a nice city as such. It doesn’t have any specific, must-see sights, maybe except the house of Pablo Neruda which I missed.  But it’s a sight in itself. No wonder […] Read More

My Fitzroy oasis

Let it go
I finally have a place in Melbourne! It was tough! Prices are steep, I could not afford a whole place by myself like I had in Buenos Aires or Santiago. The choice on Airbnb was less extensive than in the other cities so far. Maybe because of the summer. And I’m relatively late. Anyway, after […] Read More

The hills of Valpo

Let it go
Yesterday I walked around Cerro Alegre, my neighborhood all afternoon, up and down the streets. I stayed on the hill and took something like 250 pictures. After a quick pizza, I was calling it an early night, and didn’t go out anymore. I had the prefect night in my hotel, the bed being a huge […] Read More

Heading to Valparaíso

Let it go
I wanted to see more of Chile than just Santiago, but flights to Easter Island were expensive, or completely sold out, and even a visit to the Atacama desert or the glaciers in the south would have meant a budget deficit higher than Greece’s. So I decided I’d got to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar […] Read More

Shopping guilt

Let it go
My friends know I haven’t bought a thing in at least two years. Except maybe some underwear, socks, and an occasional CD or DVD, I had totally stopped buying anything ahead of my trip. Even when I had the urge to have something, the thought that I would spend that much to put it into […] Read More

Bachelet’s party

Let it go
When the results were out and the cars started to honk, I went for a quick visit of downtown, to the San Francisco Plaza Hotel, where the future president was addressing her voters. The street vendors had foreseen the outcome and were selling Michelle’s portrait en masse. But also a fair share of Chilean flags, […] Read More

Todos con Michelle

Let it go
If you had asked me a couple of weeks back who the President of Chile was, my answer would have been: Michelle Bachelet. Little had I realized that her term had ended in 2010, with no immediate re-election possible according to the Chilean constitution. But somehow the face and name stuck in my head and […] Read More

In heat

Let it go
Sorry to all of you wrapped in scarfs and gloves… I’m suffering from the heat! It’s too hot for my taste, to run around in a city. The Andes are hidden behind a curtain of smog, and I just don’t feel much like walking around. I went to a park on Friday and, like many […] Read More