Jorje y Caruso

The last day of a week of celebration for the Chilean national day and those not whooping it up in the country and alpine retreats steadily gathered at Parque O'Higgins (really) for a monumental fiesta - eating, drinking, sideshows, stalls, much flying of kites and getting them caught in trees and a huge parade of what looked like the entire collected armed forces of South America. We braved the excellent subway system and went for a few hours in the afternoon, but left before the massive parade (saw it on TV back at the hotel). Despite the thousands of people already there, thousands more were arriving by the minute, including every pickpocket in the country - one of whom made the most of a tight crowd and nicked our Spanish/English dictionary from my pocket. Easily replaced and not the only one we had, but confirmed my paranoia about pockets that zip downwards to open. Too easy. (A solution has been thought of, involving large safety pins...)
The morning was spent, however, lurking about the almost deserted city, watching the old men (and some young ones - but no women) playing chess in the rotunda at the Plaza De Armas, the artists being artistic and the Carabinieros changing shift. Quite impressive with their dogs and horses (and bullet proof vests, which they needed a few weeks ago during riots in which one of them was killed, probably accidentally, by a 16 year old student).
Here we encountered Jorje and Caruso the wonder dog doing clever tricks for the tourists. When you're not quelling riots, a bit of public relations doesn't go astray.
As you see, they both enjoy their work...