Coffee With Legs

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For anyone who has ever thought of visiting Chile, I say,"Come!" The weather, at least in Santiago in October, is glorious for travel. Sunny with temps. in the mid-70´s but cooling off at night. Perfection. The air is clear, which is a bit of a miracle, since Santiago is one of the most polluted cities on the planet due to its topography. It is surrounded by mountains so it sits like a soup bowl being filled with industrial and automotive sludge every day.

Today we walked and walked and walked some more, through the city after experiencing the immaculately clean and efficient subway system. Our station, Univerdidad de Chile, was like an art musuem with huge murals depicitng the history of the country.

In Santiago. as in many cities, large main streets are closed to vehicular traffic on Sundays so people can walk and bike riders can ride in safety. This very civilized concept brings people out by the thousands to stroll the streets and interact with one another. What an idea!

A strange sight was on one of the side streets leading towards the Government Palace. The street was blocked off for a movie, " Mi Corazon en Chile", that was being filmed. This scene depicts people marching in favor of Allende. It is supposed to take place in 1973 when he was overthrown and replaced by the dictator Pinochet. All along several streets were vintage 60´s and 70´s cars: VW Beetles, 57 Chevys with their flying tail fins, an old VW camper bus. Actors were dressed in the hideous styles of the 70´s: plaid suits with turtle neck jerseys, bright polyester paisley print dresses. Ugh! It brought back many ugly clothes mistakes and the reason why 70´s style clothing will NEVER make a come back.

We got through sound trucks and extra actors just in time to see the changing of the guard in front of the palace. If you´ve ever seen the ceremony in front of the´Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Wash., D.C. and have been impressed, well, this would blow you away. There were about 60 policemen (and a few women) in olive drab uniforms with rifles, bayonets, shiny knee- high black leather boots with tiny silver spurs on the heels, and white leather ammunition cases on the back of their white belts which crossed over their chests. They were standing at attention three deep. They were preceded onto the square by a band of about 40 men in the same olive drab uniforms except they were carrying instruments and had massive gold fringy epaulets on their shoulders. Might impressive.

After all that ´pomp and circumstance´ we were led to a coffee shop. But not just any coffee shop. It seems Santiago is on the cutting edge of what I would call " Hooters" for caffeine drinkers. These shops employ very comely young women whose main attribute has to be great legs. They take and deliver coffee orders wearing 5 inch heels and a dress that is so tight and so short that it leaves nothing to the imagination. Our guide went to great pains to tell us that the´young ladies´ are selected not just for their beauty but for their brains as they like to engage the customers in intelligent conversation. Yeah right! She also said they had a shop where young men served the coffee but she didn´t know where it was. So, friends, if you come to Santiago, be sure and ask for a ´coffee with legs´shop. You won´t be disappointed.

More delights were in store for us as we walked into the Paza de Armas. On one side was a grand band concert. While on the other side was the cathedral with the door all decked out with an arch of purple and white balloons. In front, on the cement of the plaza, was a beautiful ´alfrombra´or carpet made of flowers and colored sawdust ( much like those done at Semana Santa in Seville and Antigua). I asked several people what the occasion was and was told it was a religous observance. One woman pulled on my arm and with vivid facial expressions and pointing in the direction of the church and giving me a holy card, I finally understood. It was a celebration for people from Peru who now live and work in Chile ( about 2,000 of them). She and her friend had flown in from Lima for this day to celebrate ´Senor de Los Milagros¨the Lord of Miracles. She insisted that I keep the card. She was thrilled to learn that I had been to Peru not once but twice and hope to return. People were dancing a dance from Peru, flowers were being strewn about, many of the men and young boys and several ladies were dressed in purple capes. They were going to escort the float carrrying the statue of the Lord of Miracles that was going to be processed around the streets. Shades of Antigua. Needless to say, I loved it all.

A great day and more to come !
Caroly ( gunga)

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