Santiago to Valparaiso

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Yesterday afternoon, after a swim and nap by the hotel pool we drove to the highest point in Santiago to view the sunset. Our driver, Hector, was challenged by the hoards of bicyclists also climbing the hill. Also, some of the vehicles that were going up were crawling so that they would arrive just before sunset, not a moment earlier. I taught Hector an American word that if taken literally, described an antiquated device that women used to use to clean their unmentionables. It was very hard to explain this with my limited Spanish but once it was clarified, and once Fran was finished pummeling me for being immature and disgusting, both our driver Hector and our guide Alwin, found the term hilarious. They practiced their pronunciation until they got it right. Now Hector knows what to call drivers that drive that way. The challenging bike ride that controlled our speed of ascent is enormously with the young and fit as the reward for success, a beautiful sunset, is apparently considered worth the effort. How I wish I had that mindset now, or ever! For us, the challenge was limited to climbing in and out of the van and then walking the 200 steps from the parking area up to the base of an enormous statue of Mary. The views were great but limited by the air pollution. As interesting was the wedding that was about to take place in the little church up top. All the guests, dressed up, men in coats and ties, women in high heels, and children, some in strollers, some walking and some being carried, also needed to climb the 200 steps. The women in heels were surprisingly spry. Maybe it was that they were all young or maybe because cobblestones and uneven steps are endemic in Santiago or both. Children whined less than I would have expected and the men seemed surprisingly cheery considering. And, of course, there was the bride. Fran took another picture.

Of interest to some of you might be the discussion with our guide Alwin about some of the laws and customs that still exist in Chile. For example, it is a felony for a woman to commit adultery, punishable by six years in prison. Women, not men. Men, it's ok. It's their nature. Still on the books Alwin says, but "hardly ever" enforced. Alwin also mentioned something about my pink shirt. Did I know that wearing a pink shirt advertises me as a gay man? He would have said something earlier but he's color blind. I said, no, I didn't know. But it hurt my feelings that despite my advertising no guys even seemed to look and no women wanted to take me to a party.

After climbing up, looking around and climbing down we decided, actually Fran decided, that another massive meal was not going to happen. We cancelled dinner reservations and went back to the hotel where we ate a lighter meal in the hotel restaurant. This was the best meal of the trip so far. The Lapostolle Chardonnay, sold here by the glass, was beginning to taste awfully good. And when we finished we didn't feel like the loads we were feeling like after every other meal. A good decision.

This morning we went to a craft market that was pretty cool and then the museum of contemporary art which is attached to the museum of fine arts. Both buildings are from the 1920s and neither are especially well cared for. They were grand buildings at one time but now, not so much. We started at the contemporary museum and there really wasn't much there. Excuse my art snobbery. blame that particular flaw of mine on Fran - by osmosis. Much of the art in both museums was about the Pinochet period; the torture, the disappearances, and the military abuses. Chilean history is tough. That period left a legacy that the country is still responding to and artists, as artists do, take the lead.

This afternoon we visited a winery on the way to Valparaiso. Drank the first really good juice of the trip. We were at an organic winery called Emiliana and the two best wines were Coyam (sounds like Goyem) and GE, pronounced "gee" or "he" depending on if you're American or Chilean. It is not to be mistaken for a small company headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. They also have other wines, one of which, a Sauvingnon Blanc is called Adobe in Chile and something else in the US; copyright issues. Apparently none with GE. I'm going to buy some of this GE wine when I get home. The distributor, for those who might be interested, is Banfi (I'm just writing this down so I won't forget).

Valparaiso, on first entry, reminds us of Havana on a good day with hills. Old Colonial buildings in disrepair adjacent to 1970s and 1980s nondescript structures. A large open air market selling everyting from used furniture and clothing to food. Dogs on the street less well fed than those in Santiago. Lots and lots of graffiti, some of which is pretty interesting actually. And apparent no-go areas for tourists at night mostly adjacent to their lovely harbor. Oh, and everyone speaks Spanish. A big difference is the steep hills. They are really steep. So we checked into our hotel, a Relais & Chateau hotel (just barely) high up on a hill. This is a place to sleep and not linger so we went out for a walk and got good and lost. It was a good thing, something we don't do enough when we travel. We walked up and down hills, past galleries, cafes, interesting looking restaurants, little shops, hostels, and little houses. A home-made ice cream shop beckoned. We were very much attracted by the line out the door. But after standing in line for ten minutes, Fran's better judgment prevailed. We left. We walked some more. The buildings are all brightly painted. There is some graffiti that is art. There is some that's just vandalism. It felt a bit like what I think of when I think about parts of San Francisco before it got expensive. We were having a great time. We would have had a better time if we were 26. Eventually we decided to go back to the hotel. Google maps was called in and surprise, surprise, we were 5 minutes away. Very cool afternoon.

I'll end it here today.

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