Santiago Rocks!

Last weekend I spent my time here in Santiago taking advantage of the multiple cultural activities at my fingertips. Friday was spent at "Santiago Rock." The link is there for all of you who understand Spanish or are curious. True to my prediction it was a mix of Milwaukee's Summerfest, Bonnaroo, and Manitowoc's Riverwalk Festival. Surprisingly absent from this concert was alcohol. This country lives of cheap alcohol, and with the huge Pisco advertisements all over, it only added to my list of things here in Chile that just don't make sense, and there is not logical explanation.



(Notice the huge bottle of Capel Pisco. It was a beautiful set up, from my Santiago)

Saturday was Oktoberfest, or as the direct translation of Fiesta de la Cerveza (Beer Festival), so I gathered up some friends and we made the trek out to the festival grounds.

(It took some commitment, and about 90 minutes of transportation to get out there, but it was so worth it)
It was like Christmas for me. I could hardly sleep the night before and woke up earlier than all my friends and restlessly go back to bed because it was 6:30am.

I had been spoiled living in Madison, WI and having amble access to great beer from various parts of the US. Down here, buying a good beer not only costs about 2-3 times as much as a mass produced beer, but I also need to travel about 20-30 minutes just to buy it. So having 28 of Chile's (probably only) microbreweries in one location was magical. When we arrived there was a German/Chilean polka band singing in German, English and some Spanish making me miss the Essen Haus in Madison.

(Taking in the finer points of this Porter)

(Green Bay Packer Jersey Spotting)

(The German Band singing in Spanish to the full crowd)


(They're glad I (1) found out about the festival, and (2) dragged them out there.)