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Published: July 13th 2006
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Why Buenos Aires Rules
Tango in Plaza Dorrego at 11 P.M. on a Sunday night in the middle of winter We've had many happy accidents of being in the right place at the right time, but on this sort of trip, there will always be a few "we should have gone here instead of there" moments. And right now, WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT BUENOS AIRES!
We mentioned in our last couple of entries that Argentina is very affordable. Cheap hotels, cheap food, and cheap wine - all excellent in a background of fantastic culture and nightlife - mean that, really, there is no reason why you all shouldn't begin planning your next trip there. We returned to Buenos Aires from the northern Missiones district because we wanted to spend Saturday night in the capital and we heard that the Sunday antique market was fun. You can really find anything in the San Telmo market, from the usual estate jewelry and coin collections to working gramophones, antique chandeliers, and even classic cars. Justin had to pry Chris away to go see that soccer game. Afterwards, we, of course, had to eat one more parrilla meal before departing Argentina, so we met up with Dave and Lisa again at a restaurant they had found. This time we went for the "mixed
Yummm
Dave in Buenos Aires with some heart, tripe and blood sausage parrilla" rather than our usual a la carte ordering. We knew what about half of it was. Vowing to try everything, we think we ate some kidney, some tripe, and some blood sausage, with our recognized steak and ribs. We felt very finnicky as we looked around the room and saw everyone else cleaning their plates, but, suffice to say, kidney is not making our list of favorite food finds. On our walk back to the hotel, the market stalls had been packed up, and instead, the square was filled with people dancing some sort of couples line dance that everyone but us seemed to know. We watched the tango for a bit, but our activities the previous night had left us pretty tired, so we retired at midnight, early for Buenos Aires.
Our flight plan had us leaving Buenos Aires that Monday morning for Santiago, and then flying from there on the 16th to meet our parents in the Bahamas. We actually discussed whether should leave this fantastic city and our favorite San Telmo neighborhood. A big part of us wanted to spend the remainder of the trip there, with just a quick stop in Santiago. But Chris
Pretty Santiago
Taken during a brief break in the downpour really wanted to see the lake district of Chile, and we had just enough time to get to Santiago and get down there and back before we had to fly out. Also, Chile charges Americans $100 per person "in reciprocity" to enter. So, we figured we should get some value out of this money spent.
However, the weather has not cooperated. Today it's drizzling, which is a welcome relief from the torrential downpour that has continued steadily since we got here. The southern part of Chile has been dealing with massive flooding, and most of the buses out of town have been cancelled. It doesn't sound like we want to be down in the lake district anyway. So, we're stuck in Santiago for the entire week. We even tried moving up our flight to the Bahamas, but apparently everyone else is trying to fly to warmer places too, so no luck.
Santiago's not a bad town, but there is very little for a tourist to see. Since we know we have all week here, we've tried to space out the various neighborhoods and sites. We've been to the precolumbian museum (not bad) and walked through some sort of
Where are we?
People were lining up to get into this building in Santiago, so we did too government palace (we're not really sure what it was, but other people were entering and we had to go through a lot of security). We've run out of English movies to see, and we find ourselves eating and drinking a lot to get out of the rain. We found a theater called "El Biografo" that was showing a Woody Allen film (practically the definition of a foreign art house theater). "Match Point" was good, definitely the best of the bunch we've seen in the past few days. You can skip "Poseidon" (most of you probably already did), but that was really all there was to see until "Superman Returns" arrived today (we saw the matinee). In between we've eaten a lot of fried fast food including at a hot dog place that changed its name to La Pica del Clinton because Bill Clinton ate there in 1998. We got hot chocolate at the chain of cafes where the girls wear really (really, really) short skirts. And we've managed to find some pisco sours and Chilean red wine.
One day we took the short trip to Santiago's port town, Valparaiso, so that we could sit in the cafes there instead
Saddest Chris in the World
Wondering when the rain will stop in Valpo of here. During one rain break, we took the "Ascensor Spiritu Sacto" up the hillside. The harbor is surrounded by hills, and several funiculars have been built to help residents get up and down each day. But this name is appropos because everyone prays on the way up that this isn't the time when the cable finally snaps. Personally, this is not the way we would choose to spend our daily commute, and we only rode once. We walked down through the outdoor "Museum of the Open Sky," a series of murals and colorfully painted homes. But once again, we found ourselves eating and drinking to avoid the rain. The bar Cinzano serves up it's namesake vermouth. And we had to try churrusco, a pile of fries piled high with onions, cheese, egg, and sausage (Chilean people are not skinny).
The rain is supposed to stop, but now there really is no time to go anywhere else. So we'll continue to get to know this town, and we're looking forward to the Bahamas where rain is also predicted.
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lucho
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Palacio de la Moneda
you are standing in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace called La Moneda. It used to be a coin mint (hence its name, "the coin" or "the mint"). It was bombed by two jetfighters during Pinochet's coup on Tuesday September 11, 1973, and then president Salvador Allende committed suicide inside. In the 19th century, it was also the residence of the president, but no longer. Too bad about the weather, but it's typically chilean in this time of year. May give you a few insights into how geography and nature have chaped the character of chileans. wishing you better weather, Lucho, USA