In addition to the purchase of boots and the consumption of mucho helados, it came time to leave our lovely Elevage Hotel (great salads, Dad was happy), and head to Santiago, Chile.Chile was to be a fab experience as we had a contact their through a family friend. Linda was living in Santigo with her boyfriend, working as an English teacher and picking up the local language very quickly. She met her man while in Italy, he was studying, she was working and it was meant to be :)
We arrived after a very early start, and were transported to the city centre. We settled into our rooms, and had a little scare after realising we´d left our passports on the bus that brought us to the hotel. Fortunately we tracked it down and organised to pick them up the next morning. Loving the excitement, although Mum was a little stressed about it.
Linda came and met us after this and we wandered to the main square in the city. There we had a couple of beers and watched the locals for a few hours. Santago seems poorer than Buenos Aires. Clothes have an 80s twinge, there are many homeless folk and although the buildings are spectacular, they are in need of some serious TLC. Years of pollution, earthquake damage and general use are wearing heavily.
There is a very heavy smog over the city. We´re told this is due solely to car pollution. We took a trip up a hill in the city to see that there is a clear distinction in the horizon. The smog adds a kilometre between the tallest buildings and the blue sky, it´s a strange thing to observe.
After our beers we wandered around the square, which was FULL of people. Its a saturday, so folks are out to play. We had a look inside the mammoth Catedral de Metropolitana - inside it was freezing and dark. It was also uncharacteristically quiet despite the 300 people wandering around. We retreated to the sun and stopped to watch a street show. Being the distinctive red heads in the crowd, we were singled out and dragged into the centre of the 200 strong crowd. Joy. Linda was reluctantly dragged in too, and I could follow a few jokes about sex and verility. Dad, being the natural performer that he is, got right into it, and happily became the butt of the jokes. Apparently foreigners aren´t known for having any sort of sense of humour, so Dad was a hit. Linda and I managed to avoid a sticky snogging situation and escaped the circle, but before leaving the show, Dad got a couple of great shots. Will have to post them soon.
All this excitement made us tired (it might also have been the early morning) and we headed back to the hotel. We agreed to meet linda for dinner with one of her friends that night.
The resturant was in the suburb Bellevista. We opted for the traditional Chilian option and all got into the local drink of choice - Pisco Sour. It´s sort of like tequilla, but mixed with lemon juice, a little sugar and egg white. Seriously strong, but tasty.
It was a lateish night, but tummys full with fish soups, meat cassaroles and salads, we were happy campers. We had a tour of the city organised for the next morning.
We were picked up by a bus at 9am and shuttled around to look at various monuments in all their former glory. There is a massive spanish and french influence here, although a lack of funds means the government relies on private univerisities to purchase and restore the buildings. Many still stand empty.
The political history in Chile has been a volitile one. There have been many coups and civil wars generally in the greater south american region. One particularly interesting disagreement between Chile and Bolivia resulted in Chile claiming the port town giving Bolivia access to the ocean for trade. This claim was made in the early 1900s (I think), but it effectively strangled Bolivia´s means of trade. For Chile, it meant they now controlled the trade on the Western Coast. They developed a strong relationship with England and even sided with them when Argentina had a disagreement with the Queens nation. There are still tensions present.
We visited the political square and had our photos taken with the political guards. These fellas are chosen, not only because of their skill, but because of their looks. The are the best ´stock´Chile has. They stand at 6ft, with a strong build and look intimidating with their batons and guns. Chilians generally are small stocky people. Apparently if you snag one of these guys, it´s a bit of a status thing.
As our tour around the city continued, we could see glimpses of the Andes surrounding the city. Their snowy caps occassionally peeped through the smoggy haze.
Our tour took us through the newest development are in Santiago. Here the street scaping is pristine, the roads are not cracked or broken, the buildings are distractingly modern and the footpaths are clear of all poor people. Guards activly move them on. It´s expensive, ritzy and reminded me of Surfers Paradise without the beach. But the modern buildings are the pride of the city though as they all withstood the force of the earthquake in February of this year. While in the city centre the older buildings were cracked and stained, these stood strong and maintained their white glow. The cost to Chile following the earthquake stands at 3+ billion dollars (US). Where AUD$1 = 6 pesos, and a cup of bad coffee is 5 pesos, that´s a lot of money.
Following our tour, we were dropped off at the locals fish market. Clutching our bags tightly we wandered through the stalls selling everything from shrimp to abolone, fish to lobsters. We were tempted to try the sea urchin, but thought better of it when we saw where they were prepared. We had lunch in a nice little resturant full of locals and tourists and tucked into some steaming dishes of fish, calamari, octopus, and many other unknown delights. Some locals played some tunes as we drank our pisco sour and filled tummys.
The next morning at 3am, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to La Paz, Bolivia.
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