Spanglish Accent: Chile Lindo, Take Two

We had such a great time at Chile Lindo last year that we just knew we had to go again when it rolled around. And this past weekend, it rolled around again.

I have mentioned before that the Chileans don't just celebrate their Independence for a day, but rather, for the entire month. And the only place to kick off a month full of traditional fondas and asados and parties, at which you will dance (or attempt to dance) the cueca, is in Parque Bicentinario. Because they sure know how to throw a party in Vitacura. Located about 15 minutes down the hill from us, Parque Bicentinario is a 300,000 square meter open park that was started in 2007. They have just finished the second stage of the park and are planning a third. It houses a lagoon with black necked swans and a myriad of native fish, they have kept the native grasses as many places as they could and they have made the use of recycled materials their main focus. (Hence the fact that all of the structures used and built for Chile Lindo were made from recycled pallets. And will be recycled again after the event is over. See the ticket booth above for an example). But the park isn't just beautiful, it is also fun. Dogs are able to roam freely (the owner is the judge of the need for a leash - and most are really good about this), kids have a choice of half a dozen playgrounds to expend their energy on, and there are so many wide open green spaces for the adults to doze, picnic, or just relax upon. And I bet you can already guess that it is usually packed.

Chile Lindo is no exception, though it wasn't as crowded as last year. I think the gloom of the day kept people away which was all the better for us. Because we had front row seats for the horse show this year. We missed seeing most of it last year because we didn't know about it, first of all, and because with two little ones it is sometimes hard to get out of the house on time. This time the only thing we missed was the opening of the festival by Presidente Piñera. Though we did get to sit nearby and watch him take in the show. But who could watch the Presidente when there was so much excitement going on in the ring...

The music was traditional and beautiful.

Presidente Piñera with his grandchildren.

Traditional dancers from Easter Island. They were great.

These horses were used in a presentation for the Queen of England.

The two of these munchkins took turns getting a better view.

After about half an hour the girls were getting a bit restless (and B's neck was getting sore) so we moved on. Into the festival grounds where games, and rides, and food awaited us.

They each made a small donation to save the Patagonian trees and got to pick out tattoos. Stinkerbell got a balena (whale) and MadHatter picked a rana (frog). They were both so worried that they would rub off and even asked me if they could skip the scrubbing in the bath so they could keep them longer...

She was ok as long as the bull didn't go too fast...

She just hated it altogether.

We ran into our friend L from Pre-school.

And we ate, and ate and ate. These were their choices (Chocolate covered strawberries and marshmallows). B chose a more traditional offering - waffle cookies with manjar in between.