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 . . .
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