Autumn leaves

Autumn leaves in Parque Forestal

Upside-down seasons are bamboozling. I have to remind myself that we are in April, as the city gradually slips into autumn. This is my favourite time of year; fresh mornings, golden low evening sunlight and leaves turning to vivid orange and reds. What an extra joy it is, therefore, to have all of this plus still warm temperatures! It is happily reaching 20 degrees or more in the daytime, although of course, all the locals have their jumpers and scarves out. It's only the gringos that are still reaching for the shorts.

Yesterday, we spent a lovely afternoon ambling through some of downtown Santiago's older neighbourhoods. We started out in Londres - the rambling cobbled streets flanked by Victorian-style town houses which I've written about before. Then we moved onto Lastarria - in essence, Moseley, for those of you who know Brum. Winding streets, cool architecture, funky shops, trees, classical street musicians, antique fairs and barely a Chilean accent in earshot. This is the haunt of the (largely British) expats - a slice of home amongst the hustle and dust of the South American city.

While in the vicinity, we visited Plop! gallery - a small museum of illustration, comic books and graphic art. Basically just a shop with a small room for exhibition space, we saw work from, unusually, a female artist called Marcela Trujillo, who presented some very funny strips about a character in her late teens/early twenties and her very recognisable adventures.

Churros

Adjoining the neighbourhood of Lastarria, is Parque Forestal - a luscious slip of shady forest along the Mapocho river. It was planted at the end of the nineteenth century and at the weekend is host to scores of Chilean families. Aside from the hair-raising sight of a Chilean child on a brake-less tricycle haring towards you, it's a tranquil spot. We enjoyed some Spanish churros (fried dough sprinkled with icing sugar) from one of the many food vendors and a pleasant paseo around the park.

Rosa's ice-cream

Before we returned home, we stopped off at what is reputed to be the best ice-cream parlour in Santiago - Rosa's emporium. Testimony to this it was heaving, but we managed to get ourselves an ice-cream each, upside-down like the seasons. Sadly the earl grey flavour which I had been keen to try had run out, so I instead opted for chirimoya alegre. Chirimoya being a native fruit that tastes a bit like a banana but with a more juicy and citric tang. (Alegre meaning happy).

And next time I will try to write about something that doesn't involve food!