How much beef can one man eat?

Time for an update on the meat odyssey. Day four and I am still going strong!!! Or is it day five and am I starting to loose touch with reality...

We'll start at the beginning. I arrived last Friday in the am, checked into my hostel, met up with my friend Oliver who is living over here. He took me to a place called "The Hippopotamus", and I had without a doubt one of the greatest steak sandwiches ever. This was followed up by dinner at "Des Nivel", which in my humble opinion is one of the greatest steakhouse restaurants in the world. I had the biffe...

Day 2 and I found another little place for a steak sandwich. This one was a little cheaper than the one the day before. So I mistakenly assumed that it would be a little smaller, and ordered a chorizo (sausage) to go with it, kind of like a side salad, but better. Well I was wrong and the sandwich was even bigger, it was a struggle. But I made it. That night they threw on an Asado (BBQ) here at the hostel where I consumed even more meat.

Then day 3 (Christmas Day), we had another Asado around at Oliver's place. This was a 12 hour affair, with me in charge of the Asado. Not the cooking bit, but the making of fire. It was a thing of beauty. The following day (4) I decided it might be a good idea to stay off the beef for a day, just to make sure I didn't over do it. No chance of that, I dropped round to Oliver's again that night and we fired up the asado again and cooked up what can only be described as a small roast which someone had kindly left behind the day before.

Now here is where things get blurry. Yesterday... Ah it was day 5. Yesterday I went back for another of the greatest steak sandwiches in the world at the hippo place. The plan was to try and find some where that did fish for dinner so I thought a steak at lunch wouldn't be a bad idea. Well the plan fell through and I ended up eating a full mixed grill...

I had a little moment after this where it occurred to me that over the past five days I have consumed an obscene amount of meat not to mention the stupefying amount of alcohol I have drunk to go with this orgy of meat. That possibly, just possibly this wasn't the healthiest thing in the world to be doing. And to be honest my body is starting to show a few signs of fatigue and I am not sure if I can sustain this kind of self abuse for the remaining 6 days. But then it also occurred to me I have no other option. I can't help it. If there is a biffe de chorizo on the menu, then I am going to order it. It is inevitable. And this is I think why as much as I love this city, the people, the clubs, the shopping (don't even get me started) and of course the food, I couldn't live here, it would kill me. I have no self control when it comes to a big fat juicy steak. I am an addict, and here my addiction runs rampant...

Will I survive another 6 days of this? Only time will tell...

I feel the earth move under my feet...

I feel the sky tumblin down...

Well maybe not, but I felt the earth move. There was a minor tremor here on Monday, lasted all of 10 seconds and I am told registered about 2 on the scale. Nothing major, but it was enough to freak me out. The whole idea of living on the 24th floor no longer seems as appealing to me...

I am told they have tremors similar to this one at least every month or so, but this is the first one I have noticed.

In further news I am planning to head back to Buenos Aires (the land of meet) for Christmas and New Year. I am calling this trip the "Odyssey of Beef". The challenge, to eat as much beef as I possibly can, the proof... Right here, I will take a photo of every steak or sausage or meat product I consume and put it up here on the blog, along with a description and a rating (rating system to be advised). Ham sandwiches, chicken and seafood won't be counted, only things that once went moo. In fact I will try my best to avoid these tasty distractions…

Anyone want to join me ?

I think I am having a meat stroke...

MEAT!!!!

I went over the boarder to Mendoza, Argentina on the weekend. Yes Argentina, the land of Beef. Beef with a capital B for By golly it was good. Ok so maybe I am raving a little, but it is to be expected. I spent three days in Mendoza and ate over 2kg of steak. Seriously. I worked it out. The average steak was around the 500 gram mark. I had one on Friday night, another one and a half on Saturday night (I finished off someone else’s) and a pair on Sunday. All told that comes to about 2kg of steak. Then to put it up over the 2kg beyond doubt I went to a all you can eat joint on Saturday for lunch, and I had another bit of beef there. I weighed myself when I got back to Santiago and I think I am about 3kg heavier after the weekend. Not bad eh? I am impressed, by the Sunday I was just ordering the steak with out anything else, no need for distractions. I am pretty sure the only things I ate on Sunday were steak and bread.

What else... I saw Judas Priest play here last month! That was amazing, they were supported by Whitesnake, who were incredible as well. One of the best gigs I have ever seen. And Pearl Jam are coming down here in November, so I will go and check that out as well.

Later
Zac

Cold and wet...

Ok, no more photos... Well not for a while at least. I have had my camera stolen. So I can't share with you all the great view from my new appartment. I have finaly moved out of the hostel into an appartment with some other teachers from my work. The buliding I live in looks a lot like a Soviet era appartment block, and the inside isn't all that better. But it has a few advantages. It's on the 24th floor. Let me repeat that for you. It's on the 24th floor. It's so high that I have to pop my ears on the way down in the elevator. The elevator itself is more than little scary, but the upside is I have and amazing view. When it's not raining, or when the smog isn't too thick, I can see all the way to the mountains. Absolutly incredible. It's also conviently close to a couple of bars. And I have found a decent beer here in South America at long last.

Zac

Oops...

I've been in Santiago for almost 2 weeks now, so I can now offer a more informed opinion on the place. The first week that I was down here on holidays, it was overcast and grey, I justed assumed it was a rainy week and thought nothing more of it. Well now that I have been here for a little longer, it's still grey. Turns out it wasn't really overcast, it was the smog. I can't tell the difference, I am living a world that is permantly gray, I don't recall the last time I saw the sun... I am staying in a hostel for the first month which is ok if you don't mind sharing a room with 5 other guys. Though to be fair there are only 3 of us there at the moment, and I haven't seen the other two in days. It is in a pretty cool area full of cafes and cool bars, only problem is I am on a tight budget until I get paid at the end of the month. So all the cool bars and cafes are wasted on me.

I have also become a convert to the way of the hotdog, or completos as they call them here - happy Orb? I know I said I wasn't going to try one, but I caved. I am still holding out on going to McDonalds, but only just. They are also mad about ice cream here, it's the middle of winter and everywhere I look there are people eating ice cream. There are almost more ice cream shops than hotdog joints, almost.

The other thing you will notice if you ever come down to Santiago is that people here love to get in on in public places. I can't step out side with out seeing at least one couple making out, and if you go down the plaza on the weekend, it's everywhere. They are mad for it.

Oh yeah, and somehow in a city of almost 6 million people I have managed to run into the one person who knows me as Doodle twice in two days. It's just not fair.

Later
Zac