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| Letter from Chile: a taste of history | Letter from Chile: a taste of history |
| (8 days later) | |
| The wind, unusually, is from the Andes and Valdivia is basking in sun. There is an almost physical lifting of the spirits in this break from the seemingly interminable winter rains and fogs and Valdivians are enjoying their costanera, the promenade along the Calle Calle river. | The wind, unusually, is from the Andes and Valdivia is basking in sun. There is an almost physical lifting of the spirits in this break from the seemingly interminable winter rains and fogs and Valdivians are enjoying their costanera, the promenade along the Calle Calle river. |
| Out on the water the crews from Valdivia's several rowing clubs are exercising against a dramatic backdrop of shipyards. Even the street dogs, perros callejeros, that are a feature of Chile's towns are in amiable mood. | Out on the water the crews from Valdivia's several rowing clubs are exercising against a dramatic backdrop of shipyards. Even the street dogs, perros callejeros, that are a feature of Chile's towns are in amiable mood. |
| The fine weather provides the perfect invitation to begin Sunday lunch with a pisco sour. No meal out in Chile feels complete unless it starts with the rattle of the cocktail shaker for this tangy aperitif, the origins of which are claimed equally by Chile and Peru. Should, however, the palate require some other stimulation, an honourable local alternative is one of the excellent Valdivian beers, a legacy of the 19th-century German settlement in the area. | The fine weather provides the perfect invitation to begin Sunday lunch with a pisco sour. No meal out in Chile feels complete unless it starts with the rattle of the cocktail shaker for this tangy aperitif, the origins of which are claimed equally by Chile and Peru. Should, however, the palate require some other stimulation, an honourable local alternative is one of the excellent Valdivian beers, a legacy of the 19th-century German settlement in the area. |
| My plate of grilled conger eel is perfect and comes from the colourful fish and vegetable market a few metres from the restaurant. An almost obligatory post-prandial activity is to saunter through this riverside attraction, watching pelicans, vultures, hawks, cormorants and gulls vie with sea lions for the fishy scraps discarded in the river as unsuitable for humans. | My plate of grilled conger eel is perfect and comes from the colourful fish and vegetable market a few metres from the restaurant. An almost obligatory post-prandial activity is to saunter through this riverside attraction, watching pelicans, vultures, hawks, cormorants and gulls vie with sea lions for the fishy scraps discarded in the river as unsuitable for humans. |
| The sea lions pose on the concrete steps at the edge of the water with their heads in the air as if oh-so bored with life. "Another fish head? Oh I suppose I have to." | The sea lions pose on the concrete steps at the edge of the water with their heads in the air as if oh-so bored with life. "Another fish head? Oh I suppose I have to." |
| A few minutes further along the river is one of the watch towers, or torreones, from the Spanish colonial period, part of the city's defences against both foreign threat and the indigenous Mapuche nation. Valdivia was an important stronghold. In 1820, though, the nascent Chilean navy, under the command of a Scot, Lord Thomas Cochrane, stormed the forts to gain a famous victory that effectively ended Spanish power in the south. Cochrane provided a model for CS Forester's fictitious hero Horatio Hornblower and he is celebrated in Chile through many a street name and even a town. | A few minutes further along the river is one of the watch towers, or torreones, from the Spanish colonial period, part of the city's defences against both foreign threat and the indigenous Mapuche nation. Valdivia was an important stronghold. In 1820, though, the nascent Chilean navy, under the command of a Scot, Lord Thomas Cochrane, stormed the forts to gain a famous victory that effectively ended Spanish power in the south. Cochrane provided a model for CS Forester's fictitious hero Horatio Hornblower and he is celebrated in Chile through many a street name and even a town. |
| Today the forts can be visited with a pleasant river cruise that includes lunch and, of course, a pisco sour. | Today the forts can be visited with a pleasant river cruise that includes lunch and, of course, a pisco sour. |
| Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@theguardian.com | Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@theguardian.com |
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