Día de las Glorias del Ejército (Day of the Glories of the Army)

or just plain Army Day.

We started the day watching a Today Show type of TV program which had people sitting around talking and laughing with intermittent side programs on various aspects of Fiestas Patrias including how to select and cook the best cuts of meat for your BBQ (mmmm), the circus (apparently another staple of September in Santiago), traditional bands, songs, and dances, etc.

We decided to check out a typical Chilean place for lunch that was one step up from our normal empanadas and Barros Lucos.  After some googling (it is actually a verb in Spanish now "googlear"), I found El Parron that completely fit the bill.  We could have had this for $40 for four people but....

Parilla (BBQ)

Below are some photos from the meal.

It was like eating in a festive sukkah (with Pippi)

Gnocchi in a cream sauce with mushrooms - mmmmm

Salmon - can't go wrong there

Reineta - a typical chilean white fish (the one that got us sick at the beach!)   This one was better!

A girl and her chorizo (#4)

Mote con huesillos

A cortado to finish the meal

The two major things to note are that Jonathan and Renee both ordered chorizos which are loosely sausages.  Jonathan discovered them at a birthday party where they are served with bread (pan) and become a "choripan".  Their serving came with four and Renee ate them all and Jonathan only ate two because mid-meal he discovered that a tooth was loose and proceeded to wiggle it enough to warrant a visit from the Raton de Dietes (if only he believed....).

The molar that was

Alberto (abuelo) tried one as well and declared them tastier than those in Argentina and Uruguay - not quite sure why and not sure I'd understand why either.

The other item of interest that did not go over as well was mote con huesillos which is typically served off of trucks on the corner during the summer or at fairs.

mote con huesillos

It is dried peaches and wheat in a syrup and served really cold.  I had one at the fair last week and it really hit the spot but it didn't go over as well at the restaurant.

After lunch, abuelos went for a siesta and we watched some of the military parade on TV.  It was a bit eerie to watch all of the various groups "goose-stepping" in front of the reviewing stand where whatever leader (general?) of the group was saluting with the president on one side and a clergyman (perhaps a bishop?) on the other.  I definitely needed a spanish-english and a chilean culture translator for that one.  The kids were not impressed but I kept thinking what an interesting propaganda event this must have been in different times....I know that the US has an Armed Forces Day but I don't recall ever seeing this type of display on the TV!  Perhaps it just wasn't part of my upbringing?