hello everyone! so having had a blissful break from internet and phones i have returned to civilisation. mum, dad, hermione and i spent about 5 days in a lake house in the mountains in chile just outside santiago. it was so unbelievably beautiful and we went out every day in canoes, to read and contemplate life and on one occasion we actually managed to get to our destination (an island with a bird colony on the other side of the lake). we ate delicious chilean food and literally just spent the whole time relaxing. it was quite a contrast from cordoba, which is an amazing city btw.

chile is beautiful but you dont have to look to far to find the earthquake damage, flyovers and motorways and countless houses all reduced to rubble by the roadsides. only a few things occurred when we were staying there as, in all honesty i think i only left the house and grounds twice.

first we went to a little village to buy some veggies etc. dad thought it would be really fun to stop and get papas fritas. clearly, the arrival of 4 pale gringos was one of the most exciting things to have happened in this cafe owner´s year as he treated us like royalty and even specially put some cologne on for our benefit. after being treated to his amazing service for a while, he brought the chips... dad plunged straight in for the mayo and didnt realise that it was one of those bottles that you have to twizzle the top of to allow anything to pass. the result was a mayonaise explosion in dad´s lap and plate. the poor man was distraught and bustled around with tissues. i cannot explain the amount of mayonaise, it was a mountain and meanwhile mum, hermione and i were just so much i nhysterics to even offer to help. it may not sound funny but really, it was. photos will follow, i promise.

the other experience worth noting was our horse riding trip. we drove down there following Flaco and his son, we arrived at this tiny shack with these two crazy men, there were 4 horses ready to go. one man had no teeth and was very old and smelt like the end of a wine bottle. the other was younger, his son, stank of wine and was evidently completely pissed. he was wearing some weird kind of leather bondage type waistcoat over a naked chest and was clearly not wearing any pants under his realy baggy trousers. the whole situation was so hilarious and they seemed to be allowing us just to go off completely on our own with their horses. after bit of shouting in spanish and mums visible fear they decided to send flaco´s son sergio off with us. that was the real horse riding experience, no guide and two completely trashed horse oweners who didnt really seemt o care if we never returned with their horses.

anyway i am in santiago now with hermione and after much internet catching up we are about to go out exploring. we have about 2 days here and then over to Valparaiso to see the sea. ok dont know what happened there. love everyone xxx