I'm home in Chapala and will be spending as much time as I can manipulating and uploading photos to this blog. I'm sure it will take a couple of weeks as I have over 700 photos to go through; please be patient.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Going Home Tomorrow
Have a wakeup call for 1:30 AM for taxi pickup at 2. Going to try to get to bed by 7:30 pm so I´m not totally worn out by the time I get home tomorrow. My flight from Panama to Guadalajara was cancelled so I have to go to Mexico City and spend 2.5 hrs. waiting for the flight to Guad. At least I can use the time constructively to go through customs, which will help when I get to Guad.
When we returned to the hotel this afternoon we watched the BBC with their coverage of Obama´s first day. I can´t tell you how pleased and emotionally moved I was to hear of his first Presidential acts of transparency. I actually had tears of joy that he will, hopefully, bring the US to a higher ethical plane. I only hope he isn't leading us down the socialist path. . .
After Nixon was Carter; after Bush is Obama--how the pendulum swings!
Here's Deb getting packed--all dressed up with nowhere to go:
I really need to return to parts of S. America as I find it wonderful here. I think it would be especially fun to rent a camper and drive from Ushuaia (at the end of the world) up the Pan-Am highway to Buenos Aires (oh, heck, why not all the way to Panama??). Imagine what fun and what wonderful things I would see and experience. My traveling companion thinks I´m nuts because the highway is probably not paved most of the way. But I think that´s what makes it an adventure and exciting.
My traveling companion and I have gotten along well on this trip despite the following facts: she´s Jewish--I´m Mormon (although not the stretch she thinks it is as we Mormons claim to be non-Gentiles); she´s from the East coast and I´m from the West coast; she´s a Democrat and I´m a Republican; hence, she´s liberal and I´m conservative. Obviously, there are things we simply don´t discuss in depth. We express our beliefs and honor each other´s point of view.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Santiago, Chile
Arrived in Santiago yesterday. I like it better than Buenos Aires. It´s not as hot and much less humid. The average "Joe" on the street is less fancy in their dress. They say the smog can get pretty bad here(can´t be worse than Guadalajara) as Santiago lies between the mountains without wind to carry away the bad air. But since I´ve been here it´s pretty clear.
Tried to go to the zoo today to see the white tigers, but it was closed. Wednesday will try again but tomorrow will be filled with museums on pre-Colombian art from all of Latin America (including my beloved Mexico)and a traveling Freida and Diego exhibit. The artesania here in Santiago is really wonderful and am having a good time spending money.
The exhibit at the museum is about the Fueguinos or the people of Tierra del Fuego, called "FISHERMEN OF THE FOG".
The second banner says "SPIRITS OF MEN WHO HAVE BEEN CHEATED ON BY THEIR WIVES".
They were simple people who worn skin capes and not much else. They lived in skin shelters in the summer and crude tepees covered with skin in the winter. There are photos from late 1800's and early 1900's showing them sometimes barefoot in the snow. They were obviously good hunters and had plenty of game to kill as their fur capes were large and beautiful as well as the people looked well-fed.
Here's a photo from the late 1800's showing a Maipo (from around the Santiago area) woman in her fine silver jewelry.
We walked 4 blocks from the hotel to the Teleferico, which provides transportation up the mountain by trams suspended from awfully thin wires. Then down the other side of the mountain by way of the funicular, which are wooden cars that ride on tracks up and down the very steep mountainside.
We got off at the bottom and made it to the Santiago Natl. Zoo especially to see the White Tigers. However, because it was so hot, they were not to be seen. We saw many other animals, but this zoo leaves much to be desired. We felt the enclosures were too small and there were not enough enrichment materials to stimulate the animals adequately. Here's a photo of a young zebra. Do you see the difference between her stripes and others you've seen?
A commentary at the zoo on man's evolution:
This is really a cool way to commute . . .
Almost atop the mountain in the middle of the city where we rode the Teleferico, was a public swimming pool that the kids were enjoying:
The view from the top of the mountain:
As in Quito, Ecuador, there is a large statue of the Virgin atop the mountain where she can overlook and protect the city.
We spent another day just walking the streets in search of artesania and souveniers. This is the first and only Johnny Walker sign I've ever seen:
Walking along we saw the sign for "Like Water for Chocolate" restaurant. The local paper reviewed this restaurant highly so we thought we'd try it. Really great food in a nice atmosphere.
This is especially for my friend Dennis:
Down the street from Like Water for Chocolate we found this restaurant with monk statues on the roof:
A life-size wood nativity in a local church:
Differing sidewalk tiles:
We found this "boulder" bull along the sidewalk. I took several photos but because of the shadows he didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. His head is down and he appears to be charging fellow pedestrians.
I find spikes for protective fences to be fascinating. These remind me of thistle leaves:
And this one I call Neptune's fence:
We found this monument to Christopher Columbus in a lovely plaza. The native girl is blessing him for finding the New World:
In the same plaza was a monument to the native peoples of Chile. I take the meaning of this as showing the fractured state of the native's lives after the Spaniards conquered them:
This is a famous fish market in Santiago. It is filled with fresh fish AND restaurants that serve only fish.
I swear that this is the same dog that followed us all around the Horn. I saw him in almost every port so he must have slipped on board the ship as a stow-away. Clever guy . . .
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Valparaiso to Santiago Tour
Valparaiso is a coastal city with many cargo ships arriving daily.
After lining up for the sniffer dogs looking for food we may have sneaked off the ship and clearing customs, we found our tour guide and driver. They didn't know that we would have 3 suitcases apiece--maybe they should have brought a van!
Valparaiso, like Rome, was built on seven hills.
We rode the funicular up the steep side of a hill to the upper part of town. Commuters use the funicular regularly.
Here's the large wheel that carries the cable to raise the funicular several hundred feet. The wooden car with wooden benches creaked and groaned up the track but it was a fine adventure for us.
Deb and me after riding the funicular to the upper part of town.
Our driver picked us up then took us downtown to the site of an old pier they found when excavating for a new building in front of the government house. The old pier is now a museum but was closed today, hence the glass covering.
Close to the old pier I spotted this old building juxtaposed against a modern building behind it. What a beautiful photo with the sky reflecting in the windows of both buildings. But wait, there's something wrong with this photo--can you spot it? Post a comment below.
Vina del Mar is around the bay from Valparaiso. It reminds me of Miami with more modern white buildings and palm trees. We got a chance to stop and see the famous Flower Clock--it keeps accurate time.
We visited the museum, even though it was closed and found this original Easter Island statue:
and a Rodin:
Next we drove over the coast range and stopped for a lunch of local cuisune. I had a sort of shepherds pie of sweet creamed corn and chicken topped with mashed potatoes. It was too sweet for me but I ate most of it. Then on to two wineries for Deb to taste their wares.
The white wines of the Maipo Valley was not very oaky and so Deb said they tasted insipid. She did like the reds and bought some.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Puerto Montt, Chile
This is the most southerly point of the Chilean railroad and paved highway. When we arrived there was a misty rain, very much like the NW beaches of Oregon. There was about a block-long local artesania shopping area which we perused. Found two indigenous masks to add to my growing collection then grabbed a taxi to find a ATM. Deb got some money and we headed for the ship to get out of the cold rain. Spent the rest of the day reading by the ship's covered pool.
If you've seen pictures of the North Atlantic, I"m telling you, the southern Pacific is worse. The swells are further apart and very high--close to 20 ft. The wind is blowing and has been for two days--I threw up! But after seasick pills I felt better. All is well now with only misty rain. Hopefully tomorrow's sail to Valparaiso will be smooth. Stay tuned . .
Tonight we are back out in the Pacific; we hope for calmer weather but are doing OK with our anti-nausea pills.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Punta Arenas, Chile
It is said that if you rub the toe of this statue in the plaza, that you will return to Punta Arenas . . .
These young men where earning a living playing for tips in the plaza. Their national and international music was very good.
We shopped in the plaza among the stalls for souveniers to take home. I was lucky to find my friend Richard a scarf/tie that looks like a penguin--what else!
We found a late 19th century house/museum that was stunning in it's preservation of that bygone lumber era. This photo and the closeup show a beautiful tile floor with glass blocks for illumination into the basement.
The bathroom attached to the master bedroom:
A shared servant bathroom in the basement:
The house was full of Victoria furniture and chandeliers:
We also found this handmade native canoe in the basement. I presume it had nothing to do with the occupants of the house (unless there was an imminent flood) but rather part of the native displays in parts of the house.
After walking around to find an internet cafe and receiving/sending email, we asked about the best crab restaurant and were told how to get there. Afte walking about 9 blocks in the gusty wind, we found it. Oh boy, we heard about the wonderful crab to be had at the port and we were anxious to try it. I get sooooo hungry for crab, having come from the world's best area for the world's best crab--Oregon Dungeness. This was king crab, similar to that in Alaska, due to the cold waters surrounding this part of Chile. We noticed as we waited for our lunch that some crab was left on the plates returning to the kitchen for disposal. How odd that someone would get a large portion of crab and then not eat it ALL. Deb ordered crab meat and I order crab meat in cheese sauce. I ate all of mine but really didn't enjoy it like I'd hoped; Deb didn't finish hers. It was FROZEN crab and tasted like cardboard. No, cardboard would have had more flavor. I was sooo disappointed I could have cried. I'd waited for months to eat crab in South America. Later we found that the crab season was over and hence the frozen stuff. Oh, poopies!!
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