Santiago, Chile Report June 2006
On Monday morning we
were picked up at our hotel by Mercedes Fernandez
and long time friend and fellow judge Ramon Podesta
who would be our hosts for the next few days. We were
off to Pomaire, a small dusty village about 60km west
of Santiago. We were visiting the popular destination
to experience an authentic Chilean meal and Pomaire's
shops which are overflowing with ceramic pottery in
the form of vases, plates, pots and almost anything
you can (and can't) imagine at very reasonable prices.
If you have ever eaten at any restaurant in Chile,
I can almost say for certain that at least one of
the pots or dishes that appeared during the course
of the meal, would have been made in Pomaire.
We drove along the 'Autopista
del Sol' which is the relatively new highway between
Santiago and San Antonio and enjoyed our first sight
of the countryside outside of Santiago. Once in Pomaire
we went to the 'Los Naranjos' restaurant where we
were treated to an awesome feast beginning with the
traditional 'Pisco Souer' drink. The food included
'Arrollado de Cerdo', (rolled pork), 'Costillar de
Certo' (pork ribs), 'Pastel de Choclo' (corn cake
with chicken), 'Puree Picante' (potato peppers), 1/
2 Kilo 'Empanadas' (meat onion rolled pocket) and
'Sopaipillas' (pumkin bread) all served with savory
Pebre sauce (picante). For dessert we had 'Mote con
huesillo' (dried peach). Unbelievable service and
surroundings helped give us a taste of Chile and it's
culture. There was time for some local shopping before
we headed back to Santiago for the evening seminar.
The thirst for knowledge was quite
evident when we entered into the Chilean Kennel Club
offices and boardroom to give a seminar on grooming
long coated breeds. We were expecting a couple of
dozen participants and were quite surprised to have
an overflow capacity crowd of over 60. Wendy enjoyed
sharing her grooming expertise with her thorough presentation
which included getting a Maltese ready including complete
bathing, drying and topknot. She also demonstrated
brushing and topknots on Shih Tzu and Yorkies. From
the number of questions and active participation of
the 'students' one could tell it was a very successful
and informative evening.
The next day Mercedes picked us up
for a visit to Pueblito de Los Domínicos, which
is a beautiful arts and crafts center that exhibits
styles from all over the country and from different
cultures. The pretty architecture makes for a pleasant
stroll through the center, while browsing the work
of 120 craftspeople working on their art in view of
the public. After shopping and strolling, we enjoyed
a coffee and empanada in one of the homey outdoor
restaurants. On the weekends there are interesting
music and dance exhibits also.
Next it was off to Ramon's home and
kennel. The Von Haussman facilities are located about
25 kms south of the city and the expansive property
had spacious facilities for the 150 plus dogs that
Ramon breeds. He has extensive programs for German
Shepherds, Maltese and his favorite breed , the Afghan
Hound. We spent the remainder of an enjoyable day
and evening looking at and talking dogs interrupted
only by some great hospitality at his large ranch
style home. It was then off to a local restaurant
which featured the 'Parrilladas', a family style serving
of various cuts of beef and pork accompanied by local
Chilean beer and wines. It was becoming very evident
that the Chileans liked to 'eat and drink'.
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