South American Adventure Part 12: Day 21
South American Adventure Part 12
Day 21 – Friday, February 17th – Santiago, Chile
(This entry written by Allan)
(This entry written by Allan)
Today we started our
day as we had the previous day – with breakfast by the pool. The sky was clear
and the air was slightly chill but that didn’t matter. We knew it would be
warming up later in the day and Steve and I both were smart and wore shorts instead
of the jeans we wore Thursday.
Once again we had a
walking tour lined up that started at 10:00AM and we were to meet in front of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. We walked across the river shortly after 9:00 and went in to
the Metro station to catch the Red line. The subway here is easily navigable
and I never felt bewildered or lost. For the most part the signage was good and
we found our way quickly in the system. After one change of trains to the Blue
line at Baquedano Station, we came out into the bright morning sunshine and
cooler air at the Bellas Artes Station.
We continued on to the
museum where we met our tour guide Juan Miguel a few minutes later. Our group
today was about half the size of our tour the day before and this was to be a
very different sort of experience. This tour was named “Offbeat Santiago” and
we were told that we’d be visiting several of the large “mercados” (markets)
that the locals in the city would frequent for their daily needs.
Our first stop was the Mercado Central (fish market) which was housed in warehouse type building with
lots of stalls and narrow walkways for customers to meander through. It was a
very bustling atmosphere and we tried to make our way through without hindering
the local merchants and their customers going about their business. One half of
this place was devoted to an enormous open space with lots of wood and split up
into various restaurants. It was incredibly beautiful and we just stood there
for a few moments drinking it all in. We made our way out to the street and on
to our next stop: La Vega.
La Vega is the fruit
and vegetable market and is a large building that has two floors, connected by
an escalator in the center of the market. The roof is a sort of strange
If your request is granted you would then return to the grave and place a flower (or other small gift of thanks) there along with a written note or plaque thanking the spirit (I think he said they were known as “animato” or “animado”, but I could find no reference in Google). It is said if you fail to return and thank the spirit you will be cursed from that time forward…
I ordered empanadas pino (the classic savory turnover pie with beef with onions, egg, and raisins (!)) and tried to order papas fritas along with my meal, but the waiter seemed agitated and finally conveyed that the portion sizes were very large and the order that Steve placed would be plenty of potatoes for the both of us (which they were, of course). Steve ordered a steak and melted cheese sandwich which we had seen in several different permutations throughout our time in South America. Chuck had another classic Santiago dish that was like my empanada except it was made with corn meal in a cast iron skillet, sort of like a tamale in a pan, but with very similar ingredients to my meat pies. He said it was delicious. The Boyz (Chuck and Mike) ordered another bottle of Chilean Malbec (?) and commiserated over the fact that it would be their last of the trip…
As Steve mentioned
elsewhere, the subway here is a very well designed, efficient transit system.
We never had to wait more than three or four minutes for a train in the several
times we used the system. The trains are clean, brightly lit, and open from one
end all the way to the other end (no doors between the cars). Steve said the
system reminded him of the Montreal subway. When we reached our
stop, we all followed Juan Miguel like a flock of ducklings after its mother.
He was a very good shepherd – looking back often and doing quick headcounts to
ensure no one got left behind. We came up out of the subway into the bright,
hot noonday sun and walked the short distance into the cemetery itself, and
quickly availed ourselves of the restroom (Banos) facilities there.
CementerioGeneral de Santiago is one of the largest cemeteries in Latin America and
as Juan Miguel explained to us it is not just a place of burial. It is treated
more like a revered public park, where families will come on weekends to visits
long dead relatives but also just to wander among the mausoleums and discover
new things to see. I could certainly understand that. It was difficult for me
to keep up with the group as I was enchanted at every turn by a new, stunning
bit of architecture and design that had been erected here several or a hundred
years ago. This is a singular, beautiful space and did not feel sad or morbid
like so many of our cemeteries do here in the States. Colorful bunches of
flowers were laid all around, and there were many different styles of design to
drink in. It was a wonder to behold!
After we meandered a
short time Juan Miguel gathered us all near one of the niches and explained
that there is a local custom or belief that some of the dead, those who were
young, innocent and died particularly violently, have power to grant favors to
the living and are regarded as local “saints”.
After this most fascinating
tale we were led to another part of the cemetery, where Salvador Allende is
buried. He was the first democratically elected Socialist leader in the
Americas and his Presidency only lasted for a thousand days. He was killed in a
military coup staged by the Chilean Military under the leadership of AugustoPinochet. It is said that Allende committed suicide that day in the
Presidential Palace as it was being bombarded by the Chilean Air Force, but our
guide – Juan Miguel said that the country is largely divided in their belief of
that story. Allende’s remains were exhumed a few years ago and not one but two
different bullets were found in his remains – from two different guns, one of
them his own rifle and the other unknown. Anyone old enough to remember the
eighteen years that Pinochet ruled in Chile will also remember that he was a
brutal dictator who was both revered and reviled by his own people till the day
he died.
We ended our tour
there in the cemetery and Juan Miguel gave us directions on how to get back out
to the entrance and the subway station across the street. We thanked him and
the four of us I believe all tipped him quite generously (deservedly so). It
was a fitting end to our two days of walking and exploring this great city.
It was a bit before
one o’clock now and we were all very hungry. We decided to make our way back to
one of the restaurants Felipe (our guide from the prior day’s tour) recommended
in the Bella Vista neighborhood, on the corner of Dardignac and Constitucion,
not far from the tramway at the foot of San Cristobal Hill. It was a fairly
short subway ride and walk back to this colorful area filled with nice
restaurants and bars spilling out onto the sidewalks. Galindo
was the name of the restaurant and it was packed when we arrived. We sat at a table
in the middle of the bustling main floor just a few feet from the bar. It was
slightly cooler inside than out and I was happy to sit for a while.
After we finished our
enormous lunch we decided we really needed to have a long walk so we headed
east along Bella Vista, generally following the contour of the river in the
direction of our hotel. This four lane busy road was sort of the “auto row” of
Santiago and also had many small jewelry factories and shops specializing in
Lapus Lazuli – a beautiful deep blue aggregate stone mined only if Chile,
Afghanistan and Pakistan. We saw some very beautiful pieces in several of the
shop windows, but resisted the urge to go inside to browse. The afternoon was
getting on and we needed to return to the hotel to nap and pack for the trip
home.
We returned to the
hotel around 3:30PM and said goodbye to the Boyz, thinking we’d see them again
before they left for the airport around 6:30. Alas, they, like us, were called
out a bit early and after some drama checking out boarded their bus to the airport.
We barely got down to the lobby in time to waive them off as the bus pulled
away from the hotel and we were heading out for our last walk through the city.
Heading back across
the river and toward our usual subway stop, this time turned right instead of
left at Providencia and just walked for about ten minutes, drinking in the
sights and sounds of the people hustling to and fro. I was more than a little
sad, knowing this was our last stroll before we would head to the airport and soon
after be winging our way home to the gray skies and cold temperatures of home.
This was the first time we had taken a three week vacation that we were not
ready to come home from after about the end of week two; we weren’t, either of
us. We turned around and headed back to the hotel and vowed that one day we
would return to this lovely city and to South America in general.
Steve had already
finished packing and I was only a few minutes behind him when we got a phone
call from the lobby that our car was here and why weren’t we downstairs? That
would be because the call came forty minutes before we were to be picked up at
8:30PM! Steve said he’d be right down and I quickly finished up and ran around
the room checking to ensure nothing was left behind before joining him with my
bags in the lobby. He had already checked us out and we got into a minivan with
another couple who had also been on our cruise and made our way to the airport;
about a fifteen minute drive from the hotel.
The sun had just set
and the sky was beautifully lit as we walked in the Santiago Airport. After a
short bit of frustration we finally realized that the check in for Business and
Elite class passengers for LATAM Airlines was on the fourth floor of the
terminal building, tucked away from the rest of the noise and bustle of the
crowds below. This was very reminiscent of our check in with Emirates in Dubai
a couple of years ago and it was a lovely experience. Check in and security were
both in this separate area with almost no line and no hassle at all. Our flight
was scheduled for 11:50PM so we had plenty of time to chill in the business
class lounge before heading down to the gate. The lounge was very busy so we
headed upstairs to the second floor level which seemed a bit quieter. I think
we were there for about eighty minutes or so before Steve suggested we get up
and go check out the shops downstairs just to stretch our legs. I’m glad we did
because after noodling around the duty free shop for a bit I found a new
cologne I’ve been wanting to purchase by Paco Rabanne named: 1 Million. I had
found this in a GQ magazine a few months ago in an insert and I thought it was
a really nice scent. I purchased the bottle which used up the last of my
Chilean pesos and we moved on to the gate to check our flight status.
This was the first
trip I can remember where we had delays at every point on the back end of the
journey. We were delayed due to the strike by port workers in Valparaiso, and
now our flight to Los Angeles was being delayed. We had started the boarding
process and gotten through the second security screening (after the gate) when
we were told to stop and wait on the gangway… We waited… and waited… and
waited. Finally we were herded back up the gangway and into the gate area
without any explanation as to what was going on. We milled about the gate area
for a few minutes and then went next door to another gate’s waiting area where
we could sit for a while. After about another twenty to thirty minutes they started
the boarding process again. It was now around 12:20AM and we were very happy to
be getting on the plane – another 787 Dreamliner (!!!).
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