Traveling with Ellen

The artist that sold me a beautiful plate for my wall Our hotel in Santiago  Finally, a semi- relaxing day.  All packed and ready for the airport at 10 am this morning.  Our suitcases were put into storage at the hotel and off we went with our tour guides to see Santiago Chile.  Our stop at the art exposition and a bench for Wayne  As much as Valparaiso creeped me out yesterday, I wasn't expecting too much from today.  I was pleasantly surprised.    Santiago, the capital of Chile, has been the site of several civil wars,. military coups, Presidents assassinating themselves (2 of them) and as recently as September, 2019 riots from mainly students which closed down the transportation system, cut off workers from getting to work for over three weeks, and effectively shut down the entire country.   Today, the ruling power are those that protested and rioted.  A certain calm has come over the city.   However, they will, on Sund...

  We saw this in Buenos Aires as well.  It's a national problem.  Half of these connections are not working and a new line is run for a new resident  I had no idea what Valparaiso would be like.  I've heard the name and I knew it was a coastal city on the Pacific Ocean but other than that I had no idea what to expect.   What I found was a mass of humanity.  The city is built on hills. For as far as the eye can see, you will see houses, barrios.  When you look at the pictures I've taken, look to the distance, at the horizon.  All you see are homes.   Chile has fairly low inflation, we were told, and maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there but I didn't see a booming economy.  I saw graffiti and, yes, I saw some artwork or murals on buildings.  In fact, it appears that the citizens of Valparaiso live their murals.   I was glad for our two guides, one at the front and one at the rear to keep us together and ...

Welcome to Santiago   It's a long day when you have to fly and you spend most of your time waiting. We didn't leave the hotel until 11am and we had a 1:30 pm flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago Chile that was delayed 1 1/2 hours.  So, lots of waiting and hoping the plane takes off.  We arrived at 6:15 in Santiago and were at the hotel at 7:15.  A quick refresh, and off to dinner at 8 pm. .in South America dinner usually doesn't start until 8 pm so we're officially in sync with the country. Dinner was delicious. Starters included empanadas and salmon tartare.  Main course could be salmon, sirloin steak or conger, a delicious white fish.  It came with a fresh salad and a corn pudding that was to die for.  Dessert was the best flan I have ever had! We meet at 8:30 am for a ride to Valparaiso and a tour of this ocean city. Monday, we'll tour Santiago before heading to the airport for our late night trip home.