Conferencing

First day of the conference. It's supposed to kick off at 8:45. I'm up at 7:30. But by the time I've done all my pottering around. It's 8:20.

I only have time for a slice of toast with cheese and a quick cup of tea before we're herded into the van.

[Imagine a photograph of a very sad breakfast.]

It's misty and freezing cold. It turns out the conference will be in the national railway museum. Which is in an old roundhouse.

A vintage train looming out of the mist

We’re dropped at the front gates. Which are quite a way from the roundhouse. I feel really sorry for Sandy, who’s not verry mobile after a fall just a day before travelling to Chile. She accepts the long walk very stoically.  Much more so than I would. Wimp that I am.

The talks were supposed to be in the roundhouse itself, next to the locomotives. But it's too cold. We're moved to a smaller room. Almost no-one is there when we arrive. It's more like 9:45 when things kick off. Who could have predicted that?

There's no possibility of having a translation through headphones. Instead, the interpreter just sits behind us. Luis gives a speech first. Followed by a regional government official. Then it's Asbjorn's turn. Finally this morning, it’s the turn of Pete Slosberg.

Pete has to speak a sentence at a time which is then translated by the interpreter. It slows things down a lot. If it's like that for me, my talk will take over two hours. Given the circumstances, Pete’s talk is exceptional. Including an impromptu section on the need for cooperation between small brewers.

In the lunch break, Camilo takes me, Pete and Marcus to the covered market. Which is pretty massive. Outside the halls proper, there’s an informal market at the side of the road. That’s very Chilean.

Food stalls in Temuco market.

We walk around for a while. It’s mostly fruit and veg. With some sections dedicated to cheese or sausage. And spice stalls, which is where we’re headed.

To get down to the business in hand: buying merken. That’s the roasted chili powder locals add to everything. Pete gets ten different ones. I just get four. That’s a present for Dolores sorted. And just two euros for the lot.

Buying merken in Temuco market.

Camilo says he knows a good place to eat, Zuny Tradiciones Where they have Mapuche-inspired food. Camilo gets the route slightly wrong and we bump along a dirt track running past wooden shacks. Just as well we’re in a four-wheel drive.

“It’s OK. I know we can get through. I’ve been this way on my bike.”

Strange fruit in Temuco market.

That’s sort of reassuring. After a while we pop back out onto a paved road and there we are. At the restaurant. On a street with wheelless cars.

When we enter, a woman is playing guitar and singing. Most of the tables are occupied but we manage to grab one which has just been vacated.

No pisco sours here, unfortunately. Only wine. Camilo suggests fruit juice. We get four different ones. Not so sure about the one with beetroot. The one I go for, kiwi and mint, is delicious.

Mixed vegetables topped with slabs of beef.

On Camilo’s suggestion, we all order a dish of mixed vegetables with meat. Three types of meat: beef, pork and chicken. It’s dead good. Especially with added merken, which here is liquid rather than powder. Easily the healthiest meal I’ve had so far.

When We get back, a professor from one of the town’s universities is giving a talk on using spent grain as food. In the main hall. Part way through, I get headphones for a translation. Luckily, there's beer. I have an IPA. Or two. They’re only small paper cups, after all.

Presenting between locomotives.

Between talks, I have a closer look at some of the locomotives. Especially the big, muscular steam engines. I assume that they were built in the USA. I’m wrong. In reality, they were constructed by Mitsubishi in Japan.

Sandy is on next. Giving her talk seated. Which is understandable. It’s about women in brewing. A fascinating, and mostly neglected, subject.

When she's done, there are nibbles. And a live band. Well, part of a live band. They look like heavy metal. But the first part is two acoustic guitars and a violin. Then it becomes an electric guitar, singer and pre-recorded backing track. And very heavy metal. Lots of shaking their long hair around.

Part of a heavy metal band.

When the food runs out, we head back to the hotel. On the way I get chatting about German beer history with Markus. It’s good to discuss the topic with someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.

I mention the book celebrating 100 years of the Deutscher Brauer Bund and how it completely skips the Nazi period.

“The 150th anniversary book does cover it.” He tells me. “Because I wrote it.”

“That sounds interesting. I’d like to read that.”

“I’ll send you the text.”

“Thanks.” That’s very nice of him.

Wet only briefly nip into the hotel. Stuff dropped off, we set off for Caravan. Which isn't far. It's billed as an Irish pub. Though it seems a rather vague theme. They do sell lots of different beers, however,

Marcus and Pete are already there, with pisco sours, when I arrive with Paddy and Chris. I get a pisco sour, too. Just to be sociable. And I don’t really fancy any of the draught beers.

I spotted St. Bernard in Temuco.

We order some seafood. A sharing platter. But I don't eat much. just a squid ring and a mussel topped with parmesan. I’m not really hungry. Which isn’t the case of the others. They order a second round of food.

People drift off and eventually it’s just me and Chris. We have a whisky nightcap. As you do.

Now here’s a dilemma. We've been invited to Strom. Should we go? It’s getting pretty late and it will take us 15 minutes to walk there. When the owner says he'll come and collect us, the decision is made. It’s getting on for 23:30 when we leave.

Bonnet beer taps at Strom.

Strom’s pub is called the Monster Kustom Bar It's like a sort of rock bar. There’s a motorbike and various bits of cars as décor. It’s a very industrial look.

We have an Imperial Stout. You can never go wrong with an Imperial Stout.

We can't stay long as we need to be at the hotel by midnight. It's half past by the time we get back but Chris has warned them.

I go straight to bed. I had my nightcap earlier.




Museo Nacional Ferroviario Pablo Neruda
Av. Barros Arana 0565,
Temuco,
Araucanía.
https://museoferroviariopabloneruda.cl/visitanos/ 

Zuny Tradiciones Restaurant
Gral. Cruz 0560,
4780000 Temuco,
Araucanía.


Caravan Resto Beer
Av. Alemania 0740,
4810214 Temuco,
Araucanía.


Monster Kustom Bar
Phillippi 438,
4801058 Temuco,
Araucanía. 

Disclaimer: The First International Araucania Cervercera Congress paid for my flights and for my hotel in Temuco, along with food and drink.