It's the morning of Wed. the 8th, yesterday vanished in a delightful blur. LaVerne did more exploring on foot (we'll try the subway today) and started shopping for souvenirs and gifts. Fernando joined us for breakfast at 9 and we walked to the university by 10. Morning was 2 hours with 8 other academics, first my presentation and discussion for an hour, then a second hour led by Enrique, who is from Chile but has been in Québec for 15 years and now teaches at the U of Sherbrooke. Then a walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch and an hour for catching up on email before 90 minutes with the practicum supervisors working with the project that Enrique and I are here to help them with. I was home just after 6 and LaVerne and I caught up until Elliana (who visited us in Kingston in October) and José picked us up just before 8.30 to go to dinner.
A really memorable evening--a twilight tour of highlights of the centre of the city, then a drive east toward the Andes to the area where the fancy hotels are. We explored the military school, walked a bit as twilight ended (clear blue sky, sliver of a new moon), then drove to a restaurant. By the time we had parked and were seated it was 10.15, not our usual time to dine, but it was a beautiful evening and we sat outdoors and had an excellent meal that finished about midnight! I'll post some better pictures later, but here are some Blackberry photos from our evening. The church is in the city centre, the highway shot shows the snow-capped mountains beyond, and the dining shot shows the ambience for our meal.
