[Paisleychick-lj] Saturday in Santiago

[Beatrice M's blog]

[![][1]][2]   
[Seats for the amphitheater][3]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

Saturday was a nice day. I had breakfast with Andrew and Paulina while Kragen slept and then I visited flickr and livejournal for a while. I love being able to peek into my friends' lives a bit. Congrats to [![[info]][5]][6][**enochsmiles**][7] and [![[info]][5]][8][**maradydd**][9] on their marriage! Good luck to [![[info]][5]][10][**ping**][11] with your "new job"; I hope it works out.   
  
It took us a while to get out of the house, but we made it! We took the metro to Bella Vista and meandered slowly to Pablo Neruda's in Santiago. We appreciated the construction of a small amphitheater which had an elaborate structure so that water could flow down from the fountain above in the drainage cutouts in the concrete. This was so that water could cascade behind every seat and then between the seats down to the bottom. The water wasn't running when we were there, but we could imagine it flowing. The concrete seats were curved to fit people's behinds and when sitting it was actually a pleasant experience. We weren't able to go on a tour of the house as the only available ones were hours later. But, we did take a peak around and went to the cafe.   
  


[![][12]][13]   
[Virgin Mary and the trees][14]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

Coming up the stairs Kragen noticed that one of the tourists was wearing a t-shirt from Willamette. We struck up a conversation about my _alma mater_ and it turned out that there was a large group of college students on an exchange program. There was a Stinson Beach "no shark" sticker on a Nalgene bottle. it's a small freaking world.   
  
After refreshing ourselves with some juice, Kragen took off back to Andrews and Paulina's flat while I continued touristing. Next to Pablo Neruda's house is a hill that has been kept as a park. There's a very large statue of the Virgin Mary at the summit, which is lit up at night. I took another cable-car elevator to the top. They're a little scary to ride in. But, I rode in the same car as Pope John Paul II, so I figured I was okay. At the top, the view was impressive, yet smoggy. I meandered up to the tiptop and saw the virgin up close, the candles and messages people had lit and left as thanks. I went back down a bit, peeked into the chapel and then found my way towards the teleferico to head down the hill.   
  


[![][15]][16]   
[Tarantula on her hand][17]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

As I was walking to the teleferico, I saw a small group of people peering down the wall. I joined them and peeked over the edge and saw a large tarantula! One man was trying to get it to come up the wall with a stick. He wasn't doing very well and finally left. I stayed, transfixed and a bit freaked out. Another group of people, teenagers this time, came over to see what I was looking at. The guy in the group jumped down, picked up a discarded plastic cup and caught the spider and brought it up to us!!!! One of the girls immediately let it crawl on her hand. While it was big, furry and scary, it was harmless. There was no venom and it was just feeling its way around her hand and forearm. I took pictures, but didn't handle it. No WAY. They eventually let it go and let it crawl away back down the wall. I continued on my way to the teleferico.   
  


[![][18]][19]   
[Telefericos over the park][20]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

I took it back down the hill, enjoying the view of the snow capped Andes through the smog. When I got down to the bottom I realized, looking at a map of the city, that I was a good walk back to the flat. So, instead of taking the teleferico back up, the cable-car back down and the metro back, I just walked. The sun was low in the sky, so it was a pleasant walk through a very nice residential neighborhood. The streets were named after important groups of historical people: missionaries, sailors, conquistadors, commanders, and natives. It was an interesting reminder of the history of Latin America.   
  
When I got back to the flat, we all went out to dinner at a local restaurant that is a favorite of Andrew and Paulina. It must have been recommended in a tourist book recently though as almost everyone else there was an older gringo tourista - from all over the world. Andrew and Paulina were amused. The food was delicious, the atmosphere, conversation and company wonderful and the Chilean wine was scrumptious. I usually drink red wine, but we had a crisp bottle of Chardonnay and it was yummy.  


   [1]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/405824017_c923e5cf77_m.jpg
   [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405824017/ (Seats for the amphitheater)
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405824017/
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [5]: http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif
   [6]: http://enochsmiles.livejournal.com/profile
   [7]: http://enochsmiles.livejournal.com/
   [8]: http://maradydd.livejournal.com/profile
   [9]: http://maradydd.livejournal.com/
   [10]: http://ping.livejournal.com/profile
   [11]: http://ping.livejournal.com/
   [12]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/405836769_5d9787c041_m.jpg
   [13]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405836769/ (Virgin Mary and the trees)
   [14]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405836769/
   [15]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/405853516_b3d43cf6d4_m.jpg
   [16]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405853516/ (Tarantula on her hand)
   [17]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405853516/
   [18]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/149/405855946_89dd40a8e2_m.jpg
   [19]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405855946/ (Telefericos over the park)
   [20]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/405855946/

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/303052.html