After breakfast I walked over to the hostel to meet up with D. He came down late and gave me the denouement of the saga of M. It seems that J told her there was no boat but there was a chalet available and guess what, he would come along. It was one of those I told you so moments. She got pissed and got in about 0300 in the morning, according to another hosteller. Ah well, it takes all sorts to make a world.
I accompanied D to Alameda and we said goodbye. So now I had to explore the city on my own. Santa Lucia is a small hill, the remnant of an ancient volcano, in the centre of the city, not as high as Cerro San Cristóbal. There is a park with statutary and fountains.
I remembered something amusing the girls had said the night before: When they put on a salsa Chileans dance, when they put on a cueca (their national dance) Chileans sit down. Chile is relatively unknown in the world. One reason is there are few of them, around 15 million at the time of my visit. Then too when you mention Brazil to most people, what comes to mind? Beaches, samba, carnival, Amazon, perhaps. Argentina? Tango, Evita, Buenos Aires. Chile? Blank.
At this point I had used up all my slide film so the remaining pictures are on print film. L in Buenos Aires had given me the phone number of G, one of his contemporaries, to contact and enjoy a conversation with. I called and she was finally at home. I arranged to drop by the evening after.
For dinner I found a place serving pastel de choclo, a thick maize stew with meat and hard boiled egg. I couldn't say that it was something I would look for again. Then a dessert of ice cream before heading back to hotel to read and listen to a jazz station, trying to stretch the hours in advance of the jet lag. The music selection was quite good actually, mostly oldies, but also new stuff from Pat Metheny and Quincy Jones.
I remembered something amusing the girls had said the night before: When they put on a salsa Chileans dance, when they put on a cueca (their national dance) Chileans sit down. Chile is relatively unknown in the world. One reason is there are few of them, around 15 million at the time of my visit. Then too when you mention Brazil to most people, what comes to mind? Beaches, samba, carnival, Amazon, perhaps. Argentina? Tango, Evita, Buenos Aires. Chile? Blank.
For dinner I found a place serving pastel de choclo, a thick maize stew with meat and hard boiled egg. I couldn't say that it was something I would look for again. Then a dessert of ice cream before heading back to hotel to read and listen to a jazz station, trying to stretch the hours in advance of the jet lag. The music selection was quite good actually, mostly oldies, but also new stuff from Pat Metheny and Quincy Jones.
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