There are more grey skies overhead this morning, but at least there isn't a gale blowing. Sarah gets a sneaky lie-in whilst I get through a few more pages of Henry Miller's Sexus. I'm not in any place to comment as to whether this is good travel literature, but I think its a little easier on the brain than Miller's Tropic Of Capricorn, which I read once and only once.
Boiled eggs for breakfast, an old favourite, and we catch a bit of the England v Wales rugby. Sarah is not quite as animated today. Perhaps a shortage of black lagers can be blamed? Either way, out we head to find some churches and see, on our last day in La Serena, the famed Japanese Gardens.
"Jeeeeeesus? Where are yoooooooou?"
"Are you over there?"
Aha hah ha. A rather empty church compared to what we've been used to, even compared to the Lutheran one in Valpo. We back out and make our way down to the gardens. I wonder if these are the Japanese equivalent of the Irish pub. "What the hell?" asks the Japanese visitor "Our gardens don't look anything like this! Where are the maples and cherry trees? The beautiful women in kimonos? The paper walls? And what is all that noise coming from the road alongside this place?" Maybe I'm wrong, but for comic purposes let's assume I'm right.
Of course, the whole place is very attractive, well-kept, and surprisingly spacious. The white foamy muck lying on top of the water doesn't exactly add to the ambience, and Sarah reckons the stagnant water doesn't help. Still, plenty of creatures living in here don't seem to mind it too much. I did notice a hawk circling overhead, but not sure what exactly it was hoping to catch as the fish were a little bigger than it was.
Sarah threw a broken up biscuit into the pond and a feeding frenzy ensued.
Ever been glared at by a fish?
Yes yes, I know this is a meeting point, but its good for a cheap laugh.
Thought I'd post this in case anyone wanted to see some happy mallards this week, after the other ones got thumped by Cliftonville.
All that for $1000? Bargain.
Back towards the hostel we go, the usual packing / preparing for the bus trip routine looming large in our future. Still, might as well call into a small cafe and have something tasty for dinner. This monster is a chorrillana, a Chilean speciality consisting of all the chips in the world, topped with onions, frankfurters, fried eggs, cheese, whatever they have lying around. It's not for those fearing their cholesterol levels. However, when you're ravenous then they're excellent (especially when they're about a fiver, split between two). Sarah is quite certain these will be a massive hit back home, all we need is a basic pantry cafe to sell them in. I will also be looking to source these wonderful basic plastic Coca-Cola branded chairs too, for the authentic experience.
The rest of the day? Writing this up and packing of course! And mint tea to settle my wee tummy :) Got a 10.25am bus tomorrow and no breakfast worth speaking about.
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