Fall in Chile: Fuente Alemana and Dinner with Friends
It's been over a week-and-a-half since my trip, and I am definitely still feeling some withdrawal symptoms. My one-week, spur-of-the-moment visit to Chile (and most importantly, to Brian) came and went as quickly as it was planned. With that said, we made the most of the limited time we had, beginning with exploring more of Santiago and enjoying the company of our friends.
I landed at Arturo Benitez one Saturday morning at 10:35am. By 1pm, Brian and I had already met, put away my luggage, and made our way past Parque Forestal and into the throws of Fuente Alemana, a local sandwich joint with a U-shaped bar and a communal, open-air kitchen.
Brian had told me that they served the best churrascos, and he was right: They were awesome! The bread was fluffy, the palta was fresh, and the meat was seasoned just right! As we stuffed ourselves with churrascos (and drank our Austral), we took in the craziness of it all: People were waiting behind seated patrons for their turn at the bar; women clad in yellow uniforms were taking orders from their stations, and at the same time, manning the kitchen; and all kinds of meat were being thrown onto this one communal grill - food segregation out the window. It was an experience, one that everybody should indulge in when in Santiago. I had never experienced anything like it, and while many would be averse to the crazy set-up that we had been a part of, I definitely believe that it was all worth it. Eating at Fuente Alemana felt authentic... and fun! I really had a blast.
We were stuffed beyond belief, so it may be hard to digest (haha) the fact that we actually had some cappuccinos and mochaccinos to cap off our amazing lunch. We went to a coffee shop closer to Brian's place and sat at their patio for part of the afternoon.
We then took a short break at the apartment before we jumped on the metro to meet Enrique and Maria-Ines for dinner. Unplanned or not, we actually met our lovely Chilean friends on route: They saw us in our train car as the metro was pulling into a random station, and they jumped right in. It was awesome. We were able to sneak in some quick greetings before we got off the metro and took a bus to Plaza Ñuñoa, where we were planning to eat dinner.
Enrique and Maria-Ines were our guides to the plaza and to restaurants in the area. They had wanted to take us to a seafood place, but it was closing early that night, so we ended up taking a cab to another restaurant whose name I unfortunately cannot remember. It was at that restaurant that we got to catch up over traditional Chilean food and drinks. It was also at that restaurant that I discovered that my Spanish had gotten worse over the last few months. Eek! I had yet to warm-up to speaking the language again, it seemed, and no amount of conversations with Eulalia after work could help me out that night! Hahaha.
After our dinner, we walked around the hip Barrio Italia and the smaller neighbourhoods of Santiago. It was a cool night and a lovely way to end the first night of my trip. :)
I landed at Arturo Benitez one Saturday morning at 10:35am. By 1pm, Brian and I had already met, put away my luggage, and made our way past Parque Forestal and into the throws of Fuente Alemana, a local sandwich joint with a U-shaped bar and a communal, open-air kitchen.
Brian had told me that they served the best churrascos, and he was right: They were awesome! The bread was fluffy, the palta was fresh, and the meat was seasoned just right! As we stuffed ourselves with churrascos (and drank our Austral), we took in the craziness of it all: People were waiting behind seated patrons for their turn at the bar; women clad in yellow uniforms were taking orders from their stations, and at the same time, manning the kitchen; and all kinds of meat were being thrown onto this one communal grill - food segregation out the window. It was an experience, one that everybody should indulge in when in Santiago. I had never experienced anything like it, and while many would be averse to the crazy set-up that we had been a part of, I definitely believe that it was all worth it. Eating at Fuente Alemana felt authentic... and fun! I really had a blast.
We were stuffed beyond belief, so it may be hard to digest (haha) the fact that we actually had some cappuccinos and mochaccinos to cap off our amazing lunch. We went to a coffee shop closer to Brian's place and sat at their patio for part of the afternoon.
We then took a short break at the apartment before we jumped on the metro to meet Enrique and Maria-Ines for dinner. Unplanned or not, we actually met our lovely Chilean friends on route: They saw us in our train car as the metro was pulling into a random station, and they jumped right in. It was awesome. We were able to sneak in some quick greetings before we got off the metro and took a bus to Plaza Ñuñoa, where we were planning to eat dinner.
Enrique and Maria-Ines were our guides to the plaza and to restaurants in the area. They had wanted to take us to a seafood place, but it was closing early that night, so we ended up taking a cab to another restaurant whose name I unfortunately cannot remember. It was at that restaurant that we got to catch up over traditional Chilean food and drinks. It was also at that restaurant that I discovered that my Spanish had gotten worse over the last few months. Eek! I had yet to warm-up to speaking the language again, it seemed, and no amount of conversations with Eulalia after work could help me out that night! Hahaha.
After our dinner, we walked around the hip Barrio Italia and the smaller neighbourhoods of Santiago. It was a cool night and a lovely way to end the first night of my trip. :)
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