We slept in and woke up to our last day in Pucon to the sound of rain and wind pounding the roof and windows. Once we got ready we settled the tab with the manager and made breakfast. We poached the eggs this time because they ended up soldered to the pan last time. They pretty much fell apart, yolk broken...but they were still edible and tasted fine.
while we were eating a girl came to the hostel door with her backpack, in the rain. We let her in, and we waited for the manager to come around to give her a room. The manager ended up scolding me for letting someone in the hostel who didn't have a key. We sat around a bit more and packed up all of our things.
After a while the rain let up and we ventured in to town for lunch (Ecole again) and alpaca shopping. Ryan's indecisiveness paired with me already owning an alpaca sweater means that we left empty handed. But the prices were pretty high compared to what we paid in Ecuador, and none of them really stood out.
Our favorite dog followed us again around town. He's so cute, I really wanted to pet him, but I know better.
We came back to the hostel after stopping at the lake to make dinner. It was cozy to sit for a while and have tea and blog with the little wood oven right by us. The girl from the morning came in with a bottle of wine she'd purchased in town. We had the same problem of no functioning corkscrew. She was able to find the manager who had an extra, and she ended up sharing it with us.
Dinner was lentils, quinoa, carrots, and zuchini with raisins. The rain had picked up again by the time we were eating. Shortly after dinner it was time to go to the bus station. A five minute walk away. We loaded up, put our rain jackets over our packs and covered our purse/day packs with plastic bags. We made it most of the way before the rain really came down, and managed to stay dry with our gear.
We hopped on the bus, grabbed our free socks, read a bit and went to bed. I really dont mind the overnight buses at all. We got in at about 7.
We took the subway back to our Santiago hostel once we grabbed our bags. We are in a different room, its a little bigger actually.
Once we settled in we headed out in search of breakfast. After finding most places closed, we happened upon a micro cafe. We were able to get some coffee, Ryan had scrambled eggs and toast, and I had a Neopolitan empanada 9ham, tomato, and cheese).
We decided to take the subway to the end of the track and go to Concha y Toro winery. Long story short - we took a long subway ride, got off in another part of the city, had no idea how to get to the winery, witnessed an episode of road rage between two locals, got back on the subway and came home. One plus was that we got to see a guy playing the pan flute and guitar on the subway car, he was pretty good, too!
We had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant by our hostel. El Arbol - we each enjoyed a carrot tostasa and mixed green salad before heading to the art museum for another free walking tour. The 3pm tour is different from the 10 am tour (we we took last week).
On our way we passed a large gathering of people waving rainbow flags around someone with a megaphone on stage. A gay rights rally from what I gathered.
We met Phillipe, our guide, along with a euro couple, and our tour began. We took note of a place he recommended for great ice cream. We walked through a few different neighborhoods and learned more about the history of Santiago. We saw some beautiful churches, learned more about Pinochet and the dictatorship, went under the presidential palace, and ended in the Plaza de Armas.
The highlight for me was the middle of the tour when we learned that it was not a rally that we noticed earlier, but a march. A gay rights march to the Plaza at least ten thousand strong. Rainbow flags, glitter, drag queens, electronica music, chanting. We found ourselves right next to the march, and at one point had to cross through it. I actually kicked an inflated condom back into play as we were walking. Look at us! caught in the middle of a gay rights march in Santiago, Chile!
When the tour was over we decided to go back to the ice cream shop, and then on back to the hostel where we are now. Ryan just found that the clothes in his backpack got wet some how - it couldnt have been last nights rain, we stayed pretty dry. I'm off to shower and turn in for the night...as they say in Chile, Chao!
The oven in the common room
Barney spotting!
The gay march
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