A City of Contrasts

Oh I have so much to tell you guys… I don't even know where to start.

First there was the flight. It was kind of uncomfortable. Not because the plane was full, which it was not and not because the weather or turbulence was very bad because it was not. But neither one of us got very much sleep. Nor did Denny and Kathi who were flying with us and seated in the same row, but on the other side of the plane. But 10 hours after leaving Houston and 21 hours after leaving home, this is the sight we saw, finally the Andes!

After eventually making our way through customs and immigration, which consisted of a lot of long lines (and an x-ray of your baggage leaving the airport to make sure you are not bringing in any contraband in the form of fruits, vegetables, meats or nuts) but very friendly officials, we made it outside to an absolute elbow-to-elbow throng of tour guides and drivers looking for their passengers. Fortunately, we found our guide relatively quickly and did not have to hunt very long or go back around in circles. He was very relieved that we were able to find him. Since it took so long to get through the official process, he was afraid we had missed each other . But it was just a lot of people and planes arriving at the same time.

We were given a very nice tour of the city of Santiago with a little bit of walking and explanations of the various buildings (which we clearly don't remember anything about) but we do remember the love of country shown by our driver and guide. We stopped at a park high on one of the hills in the middle of Santiago. I can't remember anything about the park other than it's bigger than Central Park and is a very popular park because it is in the middle of the city. It does remind us a little bit of Griffith Park in Los Angeles. And at the top of the hill was a small snack stand selling empanadas. We shared our empanadas with some of the pigeons and local dogs. We also saw many serious mountain bikers with full-face motorcycle helmets and padding stopping at this little stand for refreshments before continuing their arduous journeys.

We then ventured across the hills and down through some tunnels to make our way from the high mountains of Santiago down to the coast line of Valparaiso. This Valley region looks very similar to California, and where they grow the grapes, it looks exactly like Napa Valley. Yes, we bought our two bottles of Chilean wine to take on board the ship.

Leo and Ricardo then gave us a tour of the hills of Valparaiso. This is an eTicket ride on two-way streets only wide enough for one car at a time. More than once I could not figure out how our driver Ricardo knew to stop in the middle of the street and then five seconds later a car would come roaring up the hill in the opposite direction. Had he not stopped we would have been at an impasse. When queried about this, Ricardo and Leo both said, 'you feel it in your skin'. I don't have a good picture of the hills with us moving on them although Tom reportedly has a video. But I do have a picture or two I will share here.

As you can see, getting around the city of Valporaiso involved either a lot of walking up and down a lot of steps, or driving up and down and back around and over and above and beyond. This difference between up-and-down is one of the many contrast of the city of Valparaiso.

On every street, some places every building, there is street art. Many amazing, many unusual. There is also a lot of tagging, which let's face it is a wanna be graffiti artist without any skill. Usually the taggers leave the true street art alone, but sometimes they get so close to the edges it starts to merge, and then sometimes it completely covers the actual art. Another contrast.

Something else we found all over the city were loose dogs. Mostly, they were laid-back, casual and asleep. We were told the reason for all the dogs outside is that nobody has any yards attached to their homes, and when you see the hills and the streets and how buildings are cantilevered over absolutely nothing you can understand why there are no personal yards or garden spaces. Bus, the dogs are just left loose during the day. Consequently these dogs become sort of neighborhood dogs. Usually, one person will take care of feeding, another may take care of going to the vet, another may take care of the licensing. It is very common to see water bowls and food stations placed outside people's houses for whatever dogs happen to be in the area. And, for the most part these dogs seem to be very non-territorial. But I must admit that last night at 3 am we were serenaded by lots of howling and the occasional barking fest somewhere in the valley down below our room.

For the first part of our walk today we were accompanied by two friendly mutts that were lounging outside on the walkway near the hotel. They apparently decided we look like gullible tourists, so they decided to go with us. Unfortunately, after about 45 minutes they spotted a cat and took off running. I am sorry to say the cat did not survive. Our guide Isaac attempted to aid the cat, but its injuries were too severe. When he returned to us, he had tears in his eyes. We chased the dogs off and continued.....but it was a somber moment for us all.

The mood was lightened a few minutes later when Tom spotted some tables with umbrellas at a little restaurant that was selling beer at 11:30 in the morning. (I have just been told the time was actually 11:45). While sitting and chatting and of course drinking beer, Isaac mentioned some American television shows one of which was Breaking Bad. And then the lightbulb clicked on; when he realized Albuquerque was in New Mexico, and Albuquerque was the site of the Breaking Bad filming, there was no containing Isaacs's excitement. Even our moods have contrasts in this city of contrasts.

We continued our walking tour by taking one of the old trolley buses, circa 1945 to 1947, to a famous sausage shop in the German part of town. We had a unique type of ham there, the name of which is hard to pronounce (it's a German word with a Chilean accent) but is spelled Sethmacher.

Above is Isaac purchasing a few slices of Sethmacher for us to sample.

Well, I have used up my available leisure time for today, as we must now head out for dinner at the brew house at the base of the funicular, which we can see outside our window. And I have not even told you yet about the funiculars, circa 1925, which are still in operation. Or the singing college boys outside the funicular at 2 am accompanied by bongo drums (yes, think Alright, Alright, Alright and you have the right picture) with two of them engaging in plastic swordplay under the full moon. It was so funny I didn't even mind being awakened by their shenanigans. Or the street musicians on the pedestrian passageway between this hotel and the street. Or the dinner at the restaurant perched on stilts next to the passageway with amazing fish dinners. Or even this funky, old hotel at the top of the funicular with it's unique architecture, paper thin walls and quirky oddities with a gorgeous view of the bay. Still, more contrasts.

If I get a boring day in the next couple of weeks, I will try and add some of that information. Or you will just have to remind me of it when next we talk.