Santiago a blending of the old and nutria

So after a rather lengthy flight we arrived in Santiago. I have to say that there are two things that started us off on the wrong foot. First baggage allowance is 20 kg (44 pounds). As I am staring at this ticket agent I am thinking come on, you are a woman, you know how we pack. WHO PACKS 40 POUNDS FOR 6 WEEKS AWAY? Ok, so we are having our first big OH God before we even leave L.A. Second, the flight landed in Santiago at 5:30 am. The check in for the hotel is 2 pm. Eric and I are dog tired, neither of us have really slept and even though we flew business (I think I would have died in coach), the seats were darn uncomfortable and the flight went on forever! Our welcome to Chile was the entrance fee (reciprocity fee) of $131 USD (they only take exact change). Did I mention this is a per person fee? Anyway, I digress, we arrive at our hotel to find out they are full, so it will be very late until we get a room. So they check our bags, arm us with a map and send us on our way.

Santiago is a fascinating city both modern and old, at times reminding me of Seville in Spain. There is a distinct European influence as well as a Moorish flavor to much of the older archetecture. Then there is the dichotomy to the modern blended in with the old. Nowhere could you see this contrast more than the Plaza de los Armas. There was one place that reminded me of Alleppo in Syria.

As this is my first trip out to South America, I had a different expectation. Chile is expensive, with a modern Metro and actually beautiful in places, public art is everywhere. Eric and I chose to walk to many of the sites, so we experienced everything from the business neighborhoods of La Provedencia to the bohemian neighborhood of Bellevista, where grafitti, that looked intentional and suspiciously like art graced the walls of the shops. There is also a niche for socially conscience grafitti, from ¨"Don´t eat meat to Liberty isn´t Free". All of these were stenciled to walls.

So armed with our map and the pages I ripped out of my Lonely Planet, we take off from our hotel.

Our first stop was Palacio de la Moneda. Not to overly inspiring, perhaps that´s because everywhere I go, I seem to see government buildings. It is in the middle of Town and is the government center. It was crawling with police and showed signs of a protest from the night before. It must have been some gathering because wine bottles littered the plaza and poor maintenance workers were working furiously to clean it up. Speaking of Protests and rally´s, we got the chance to see the Lions of Judea as well as the Hare Krishna. Who´d have thunk either group could find enough people for a rally in Chile?

The we headed to the Plaza de Armas and Cathedral Metropolitano. This is the place that most reminded me of Seville. It was a true public space with artists, live music, performers and people just out wondering around. There were children with face paint, shopping galore, gelato everywhere and where we had our first Hmm. There are many vendors here and one of their favorite thing to sell is hats. Those of you who have been to China Town in NYC, know what this looks like. But here, there is an alarming, Seinfeldesque quality to the wares, some of the hats, are made out of some kind of fur. Nutria perhaps? We couldn´t be sure. Then an alarming thing happened, we noticed this propensity all over, kids toys, everywhere. OMG! It´s like they reuse fur! YUCK!

In the past three days in Santiago we have seen and done many of the things on the tourist trail. What I have noticed is that People for the most part are happy to help if you ask but you had better ask in Spanish. Most everyday people do not speak English.

Following are just some of the interesting things we have seen.

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