Santiago, Chile
January 21, 2009
Sometimes, just getting out of town is the hardest part of a vacation. It was foolish of me to wait until after Christmas to begin the process of acquiring, organizing and packing supplies for almost four months--supplies that would bring me from early summer to mid autumn, from sea level to over 15,000 feet. Try packing all of that in less than 50 pounds! I swear I was going to have a heart attack. I´d not been under that much stress since I left my job two and half years ago.
But leave I did. Thursday, January 15th was a lovely day, if you consider -10 a lovely day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'd gotten up early that morning to take a ride around Cumberland Head. Ice fishermen were walking on the Bay, the thermometer in my
car never registered a degree above -5, and I marvelled at the fact that a day hence I'd be on another continent, in another hemisphere and in summer. Airport, dinner, a flight to Toronto and a much longer flight from there to Santiago.
Bless Air Canada! The full flight touched down right on time. We flew along the Chilean coast for a bit and we got great early vistas of giant, snow-capped
Andean peaks. But, on the ground it was a different matter. No snow here. The temperature was a delightful 85 and I basked in the fact that it was summer and Jack Frost was firmly ensconced somewhere high in the snowy peaks. It took me about a ninth of a northern nano-second to wrap my head around the fact that I´d said my good byes to winter 2009. Hello summer!
A quick taxi ride ride brought me to my hotel, I checked in, put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and took o
ff for Central Santiago. My first impressions of the city have not changed--quiet, conservative, organized and flat. On my second day in the city I took the funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. What lay before me was a gorgeous city, lying on a flat plane, with a backdrop of the mighty Andes to its immediate west. In the winter, when the city is free of smog, it must be a beautiful site, because even with the dirty summer air I could see glaciered mountains in the shrouded distance.
It was mid-January, and Christmas lingered. At the very summit of
Cerro San Cristobal is a huge statue of Mary. I climbed up and just sat there, looking out over the city, listening to a sweetly taped choir of music honoring the Virgin. None of the music was familiar until I heard the quiet strains of Silent Night. I sat on this high lookout, looking out over the city, a strong, early summer austral sun beating down on me, and I was suddenly brought back home, three weeks earlier, to our long, dark, early winter Christmas nights. It was very much an ´in the moment´ thing and something very special to me.
I gave Santiago a one day orientation and on my second full day in Chile there was nothing more I wanted to do but go to the beach. I took a bus to Vina del Mar, an hour east of the city. I'd no idea how high the city was (1,600 feet) until we dropped and dropped for almost an hour. The vistas were marvelous--farms and vineyards dominated. Surprisingly, my day at the beach was cooler than my days in the city, but then I remembered that this is a Mediterranean climate and that's normal. Think Southern California in July and August--hot and clear inland, cool on the coast.
My days in Santiago were quiet. I had no idea how tired I was--from work, from Christmas, from just getting out of town. On my 3rd full day in the city I managed to walk into the center, return to my hotel, change and lay in the hammock in the garden all afternoon. The hot, dry heat of a Santiago summer lulled me to sleep more than once. I'd read, nap, wake up, read and nap again.
On my final full day in the city I took the advice of a Chilean couple and bussed/metroed a bit out of town to a world famous vineyard--Concha y Toro. The only way in was on a tour, and quite honestly, it was a perfectly OK way to see the vineyard and its operation.
I found myself quite unmotivated in my first days away. That was fine as this trip is 15 weeks long and there's plenty of time to see and do it all. Easter Island was a day away!
January 21, 2009
Sometimes, just getting out of town is the hardest part of a vacation. It was foolish of me to wait until after Christmas to begin the process of acquiring, organizing and packing supplies for almost four months--supplies that would bring me from early summer to mid autumn, from sea level to over 15,000 feet. Try packing all of that in less than 50 pounds! I swear I was going to have a heart attack. I´d not been under that much stress since I left my job two and half years ago.
But leave I did. Thursday, January 15th was a lovely day, if you consider -10 a lovely day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'd gotten up early that morning to take a ride around Cumberland Head. Ice fishermen were walking on the Bay, the thermometer in my
car never registered a degree above -5, and I marvelled at the fact that a day hence I'd be on another continent, in another hemisphere and in summer. Airport, dinner, a flight to Toronto and a much longer flight from there to Santiago. Bless Air Canada! The full flight touched down right on time. We flew along the Chilean coast for a bit and we got great early vistas of giant, snow-capped
Andean peaks. But, on the ground it was a different matter. No snow here. The temperature was a delightful 85 and I basked in the fact that it was summer and Jack Frost was firmly ensconced somewhere high in the snowy peaks. It took me about a ninth of a northern nano-second to wrap my head around the fact that I´d said my good byes to winter 2009. Hello summer!A quick taxi ride ride brought me to my hotel, I checked in, put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and took o
ff for Central Santiago. My first impressions of the city have not changed--quiet, conservative, organized and flat. On my second day in the city I took the funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. What lay before me was a gorgeous city, lying on a flat plane, with a backdrop of the mighty Andes to its immediate west. In the winter, when the city is free of smog, it must be a beautiful site, because even with the dirty summer air I could see glaciered mountains in the shrouded distance.It was mid-January, and Christmas lingered. At the very summit of
Cerro San Cristobal is a huge statue of Mary. I climbed up and just sat there, looking out over the city, listening to a sweetly taped choir of music honoring the Virgin. None of the music was familiar until I heard the quiet strains of Silent Night. I sat on this high lookout, looking out over the city, a strong, early summer austral sun beating down on me, and I was suddenly brought back home, three weeks earlier, to our long, dark, early winter Christmas nights. It was very much an ´in the moment´ thing and something very special to me.I gave Santiago a one day orientation and on my second full day in Chile there was nothing more I wanted to do but go to the beach. I took a bus to Vina del Mar, an hour east of the city. I'd no idea how high the city was (1,600 feet) until we dropped and dropped for almost an hour. The vistas were marvelous--farms and vineyards dominated. Surprisingly, my day at the beach was cooler than my days in the city, but then I remembered that this is a Mediterranean climate and that's normal. Think Southern California in July and August--hot and clear inland, cool on the coast.
My days in Santiago were quiet. I had no idea how tired I was--from work, from Christmas, from just getting out of town. On my 3rd full day in the city I managed to walk into the center, return to my hotel, change and lay in the hammock in the garden all afternoon. The hot, dry heat of a Santiago summer lulled me to sleep more than once. I'd read, nap, wake up, read and nap again.
On my final full day in the city I took the advice of a Chilean couple and bussed/metroed a bit out of town to a world famous vineyard--Concha y Toro. The only way in was on a tour, and quite honestly, it was a perfectly OK way to see the vineyard and its operation.
I found myself quite unmotivated in my first days away. That was fine as this trip is 15 weeks long and there's plenty of time to see and do it all. Easter Island was a day away!
