Just when you think it is getting dull

I had a bit of fun and games getting the bike sorted. Despite being given assuranes that there were professional independet people who could sort the "computerised damper" I ended up at the BMW main dealer. This was about 5 hours later.

They did not look too impressed at having ro deal with a "warranty" issue on a UK bike. They insisted on the Doucmentation to support the service history and the vehicle registration. Funnily enough, I didn't bring the service book with me to South America. Luckily the BMW dealer in Hampshire did their bit and pinged a copy of the service record to the Santiago Dealer. That and a scanned copy from JIS  my new best friends in Santiago (I am not sure they see it the same way) sems to have done the rick. I did ask Andro & Sebastia; Do I got my own office if I came back again next week?

Oh and the replacement Damper, which i told them about when i was in Tierra Del Fuego, will take 3 weeks to arrive! Looks like more Spanish lessons and a few days at the beach for me then!

A few days ago Wilks kindly took me to Liguria, a popular restaurant in Providencia, as an early Birthday celebration.

I went back there this evening, on my tod, as I rather liked the atmosphere. It is Italian in style with the sort of music Wilks sings for his pleasure and our agony.

I got a nice table in the restaurant, surrounded by the beautiful people of Santiago. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the arrival of the diners who took the table next to me. Judging by the look of them, they were the IT department from Bumphuck Computers plc on their Xmas bash.

Little did I realise the entertainment to be had.

Firstly, at no point in the evening were less than 50% of them on their smart phones at any one time. The iPhones only just outnumbered the pony tails and the average weight was double that of the average Chileano.

The head honcho ordered the wine - hats off to the waiter he earned his money tonight.

He got him to the bottom of the last page. The best bit was that , with great aplomb he brought the wine to the table, with a decanter. Uncorked,  then ceremoniously cleaned the cork as if presenting Mass at St Peter's and put a dab of wine in the glass of the guy with the credit card.

He professed himself happy with it and the waiter then poured the top inch, from the bottle, in to the decanter & swilled it around, as if warming a pot for tea!

This he then tipped in to a glass that promptly disappeared in to the kitchen. The Chef must love his job.

Best of all he then dumped the remainder in to  the decanter, lees and all., for the benefit of the paying public.

I was so "impressed" that I asked my waiter if i could see the the bottle. It was a 2006 Cab Sauv.. With a wink he told me it threw a heavy sediment. I am sure the Glass washer will get it all out of the bottom of their glasses in due course..

They repeated this twice in my presence and i thank them for it. I did mention your priorities change on a trip like this when dining solo.

You could tell the diners knew what they were doing when they took photos of the wine & the subsequent bottles. I said to my waiter "they are aficionados?" to which he simply replied "they are Brazilian".

Anyway it amused me & if you are ever in Santiago I recommend Liguria (on Providencia) as a good place to drink, eat and people watch (they make a very decent Pisco Sour too).

By the way, I am sure the Brazilians were saying "look at that sad bastard all on his own". They will never know the entertainment I got from their presence.

Don't expect too many more Bogs for the time being. Santiago is not throwing up many amusing anecdotes.

Will report next time I have something more interesting.

Ciao