Sunday, November 11, 2007 A day out on the town

Sunday, November 11, 2007 A day out on the town

I slept in late and had another piece of pie Olga had left me for breakfast (Why did she make so much pie?!?). I went to mass at the Jesuit church nearby at noon and wore a cute sundress to celebrate the beautiful weather. After mass I came home and changed clothes because I realized the sundress was just a bit too cute to wear walking around in the street. I met Tom and Courtney at 2 pm to have lunch in Mercado Central, the famous Seafood Market down town. (Side note: Amazingly, Courtney and I ran into each other in the metro station on the way!) They had both had a birthday in the last month and for their gift I promised them a delicious seafood lunch at the market. Of course, they were thrilled.

Before eating we wondered around the market a bit to check out the millions of fish, octopus, shell fish, everything. I am still amazed at seafood markets because there is always something that looks incredibly disgusting yet ends up being the most expensive meal on the menu. We ate at the restaurant Olga had recommended called Joya del Pacifico. I had swordfish which I decided is like the steak of fish. It was thick and meaty and I enjoyed it but I don’t think I’d order it again.
After our lovely meal we wondered around the market then meandered our way to the Plaza de Armas. Since it was a Sunday the place was packed with vendors and performers and there were workers building the huge Christmas tree in the center of the plaza. We kept walking and eventually gave into the temptation and all split a scoop of chocolate ice cream (literally, about 50% of the people walking around were eating ice cream. Welcome to Chile in the summer). There was a random puppet show on the corner and we stopped and watched a while before Tom got on the metro to head home.

Courtney and I walked another 30 minutes or so to Plaza Italia and she caught her bus home. I met up with a Chilean friend of mine to hang out at the park and speak English so he can practice, and afterwards walked home around 8 pm. Olga made me once and we chatted for a while before I headed to my room to finally do some homework for the week.