A trip on the 'B Side' of Santiago for Jo's 40th

Happy 40th birthday today to my beautiful wife Jo...one amazing girl.

To celebrate this special day a little bit differently we took a walking tour called the 'B Sides of Santiago' to get right under the skin and feel the heart of this unique city.

It was just the 2 of us and our local guide, Ricardo as he took us through a myriad of local hotspots including the Vega Central (Fruit and Veg market) and Mercado Central (fish market) to sample a range of tastes including a prawn/cheese empanada and a sopaipilla (spicy fried pastry).

Then onto a bar called La Piojera or the Popular Palace where the motley crew of customers included fish market workers, office workers and the odd Aussie tourist or two. The drink to have is called a 'Terremoto' or Earthquake consisting of 1/2 litre of Red Wine, a shot of Fernet liquer and 2 scoops of Pineapple ice cream. If you survive the Earthquake drink they are happy to serve a follow up 'After shock' or 'Tsunami' variation but we passed. The Blip shows us with our Terremotos.

Last on the agenda was a pitstop to one of Santiago's famous coffee houses also described as 'Coffee with Legs' set up after the Pinochet era for businessmen to let off a bit of steam. Our place was called Cafe Premium and let's just say the view was a little different to your average Starbucks or Costa coffee shop!

Once again blown away by this super city.