I guess I should follow some chronological order with this post as I haven´t put anything up in a couple of days. The night I arrived, I met a Scottish guy in the hostel and began drinking. I was pretty bagged from the flight and the heat, and he was hung over. After the first couple of bottles we both hit 'the wall,' but not wanting to go to bed, we decided to walk about and check out what everyone was doing on a Friday night in Santiago. Coming out of the hostel, we noticed two city workers cutting down trees along the avenue. The trees would fall on the street and block traffic, and the cars would have to wait until the workers cut up and cleared the branches. all this at 11:00 at night. We continued down to La Plaza de Armas and arrived just in time to see riot police breaking up a protest. There was the police tank hosing down burning garbage and disaffected youth alike, and me without my camera.
The lesson I learned from this little situation was take your camera ALWAYS.
The walk did us both some good and we proceeded to get thoroughly smashed on cheap Chilean beer.
I was battling a hangover when I got up yesterday, but I grit my teeth and went looking for an exchange kiosk. Not an easy thing to find on a Saturday, but it worked out.
I have looked into some of the wine tours offered. I spoke with an American who had been on a few and he said it´s nothing special and fairly expensive. I´m thinking of going to a reputable wine shop and inquire about tastings and skip the hassle of the tour bus.
Santiago in general is pretty pricey. Groceries, beer and cigarettes are relatively cheap, but restaurants are on a par with or marginally cheaper than Canada. This has caused a proliferation of awful fast food joints that serve up some pretty rotten looking hotdog-based dishes (cut up wieners on fries with avocado for example). I wasn't expecting the level of prosperity here. New BMWs, Mercedes Benz´s are not uncommon.
Last night I went to a club with Graham (the Scot), and a few others. One thing about Chilean women is they are not shy about making eye contact.
1 comment:
Hey Ringo, let us know what you have seen in terms of cigars stores, if any. Would like to know the availability of good Cuban cigars. What are the shops that sell cigars like? What is is the price range? Expensive? I am sure you are very busy but if you happen to pass a Tobacco shop tell us about it. Can you smoke indoors or on a patio with a nice glass of wine? Think of us in the cold north while you are enjoying this. Over and Out.
Cigarman
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