Cafecito

Andrés and I love going to cafés together. Not necessarily because I'm addicted to coffee (because I'm not) and not even because he likes coffee (because he really doesn't), but because we love the atmosphere and spending time together in this way. When we were apart, I really missed being able to do this with him. In Concón where we live, there aren't many cafés and so we always end up going to Valparaíso to indulge in this treat. Valparaíso is a big, colorful, port city it's  called the patrimonio cultural de la humanidad- meaning cultural patrimony of humanity. Basically, it has a LOT of Chilean culture. At one café we received a map that listed a bunch of others and our plan is to visit each one and cross them off on the map as we go.


Last week after work on Friday, Andrés came and picked me up and we went back to the first café we had ever gone to together. Two years ago we went with our friends John and Kayla when we had a free day from Spanish classes. The café is called el Desayunador which I translate into "the  Breakfaster," but they call it "Permanent Breakfast." I like my translation better. We ate once (pronounced own-say) there and it was super rico (really good). The only thing I didn´t like was there were so many gringos there! Seriously, the Chileans were really outnumbered. Most times, unless I´m homesick, I like to go to be one of the only gringos so I'm more immersed in Chileanness... or at least that's what I tell myself the reason is. 


Here are the photos of our lovely afternoon together. In case you ever visit, I ordered the Once Chilena and Andrés got the Once Tradicional.

When we were with John and Kayla, we sat at the table behind Andrés

This mural of Valparaíso takes up one whole wall

Just our coffees and desserts- yum!

Andrés' cafe con leche

This traditional dessert is called mote con huesillos. It´s a rehydrated peach in juice with wheat kernels.

I actually ended up only getting hot chocolate.

Andrés' meal- homemade!

My dessert was manzana asada. An apple cooked in wine with vanilla ice cream.

My once, also homemade.

And through the window we got to watch workers building a new cobblestone street. Very interesting.

Ending on a funny note, the worker bent over had a plumber's butt tan line! It was pretty funny, but also I can imagine why so many construction workers have bad backs and knees.