La Chascona, Santiago de Chile

So a couple weeks ago Michelle was down to visit us and with her we were able to fly over to Santiago de Chile for a few days for a great trip. Thank you so much to Michelle for taking us! She unfortunately didn`t make it to Easter Island as she had hoped. But this gave us the chance to hang out more in Santiago, which is an amazing city. My clearest impressions of Santiago and of Chile is of the colours. There seems to be colour and art everywhere throughout the city. There is care in the details and there is creativity in the design of buildings and of houses and of the way they are presented. Our hostel was excellent (Happy House Hostel, in case anyone is interested - i may make a separate post just about it and it`s decor!). And we were able to visit Pablo Neruda`s home "La Chascona" and step for a moment into the world of one of the greatest poets. His house is quite the experience. He designed it himself to resemble a ship and it is full of his collections of things. Our guide explained that he found beauty in the everyday things that we often surround ourselves with and yet take for granted; glass bottles, dishes, etc. He didn`t like to be called a collector, preferring instead the term "Thing-ist." I picked up an excellent book in the gift shop that has a collection of his poems, Spanish on the left side and an English translation/interpretation on the right. I don`t know how much help it will be in my studying of Spanish but it certainly is beautiful. Here are some pictures from our visit to La Chascona (which means "Big Hair", by the way, and was named after his third wife Matilde, or least after her hair).

On the way to La Chascona


Colour Everywhere


La Chascona


Ojo! ( "Watch out!" in Spanish) "Ojo" literally translates as "eyes" so these peepers were strung about wherever it might be prudent for tour members to duck or be aware. =)


From left: Me, Michelle Culligan, Gonzalo (our wonderful guide), and Ulala Sasa.


Pillars of poetry that form an arch around a small amphitheater-like space just outside the house.


Part of a long wall mural on the street leading away from the house showing Neruda in profile.

A step in the right direction

I feel awful today. Probably from too much wine last night (though my current state seems far worse than what i would expect from one bottle of nice Tannat!) but when i saw this article/blog i was cheered greatly: Abbas and Olmert Reach "Joint Understanding" on Peace Talks There is, of course, a long way to go but this is definitely a huge step in the right direction. It is also a step that should have been taken long ago!

"You can bomb the world to pieces
but you can`t bomb it into peace."
- Michael Franti.

Worst locations for ATMs.

I used to think that outside, on busy Queen street West in Toronto (a fairly rough area), was the worst location for an ATM but i think this trumps it. Less likely for theft but just plain creepy. This one is in the Buenos Aires International Airport. You`ll notice that the arrival and departure boards are directly above the machine. So while you are getting cash out you have your back to a whole crowd of people all seeming to look right at you. Creepy. Also, the writing on the screens is just small enough that people get a little too close. Sorry about the blurry picture. Anyone else got any pics or tales of weirdly placed ATMs. Would love to hear `em. =)

Uruguay

Our day trip to Uruguay was fun and interesting and we had a very nice guide named Eugenia. We visited the quaint little town of Colonia del Sacramento, which is a UNESCO world heritage site due to its incredibly long history (mostly colonial) and its pivotal role in the back and forth fighting between Spain and Portugal in the New World. Nowadays Colonia is mostly just a tourist town with a low population and lots of weekend houses for the richer folk from Buenos Aires. Here are some pictures from the day:

Due to high import duties on cars and other vehicles, Uruguayans have reputations as master mechanics who can keep cars running long after they would be considered junk or antiques in other places.


This is the old bull-fighting stadium that has only been used a dozen times and was rather poorly designed since it started to fall apart almost immediately. Now it sits idle, waiting to be reborn as an open air theatre.


Old meets new in the little town of Colonia.


This is Kousuke from Japan. He was on our tour with us and he got mobbed by these school chidren who wanted to know everything about him. Too bad he doesn`t speak Spanish...


This is "The Street of Sighs". With a name like that, it must have a legend, right? There are in fact two stories popularized by the tour guides. One is that prisoners who were about to be executed by firing squad were marched down this road to meet their fate by the riverside (where the body would then be tossed). The other story (and far more likely) is that this road was where the brothels were and on those hot summer nights the air would be filled with the sighs of soldiers and sailors with their mistresses. This, as our tour guide pointed out, was far more likely since the brothels were still there until the mid 1970s.


This is the oldest church in Uruguay (the name escapes me at the moment). It has been destroyed in part and rebuilt on more than one occasion but this structure still dates from the mid 19th century and it now houses a fine collection of religious art.


This fine auto has actually been retired and now serves as a romantic table for two for the restaurant it is "parked" next to, complete with table and two chairs and a candle for ambiance.

Back from Iguazu - Off to Uruguay

We have returned triumphant and jubillant after travelling hundreds of kilometers by plane and a dozen or so on foot to see the famous Iguazu Falls, widest (and possibly loudest) in the world. Having only been to Niagara less than two months ago i can safely say that they are both monstrous cascades of mind-boggling volumes of water. And they are both tourist magnets. But the comparisons end there. Surrounded by sub-tropical rainforest and bordering three countries, Iguazu is beyond imagination as a natural wonder. I`ll be sure to write more about it and the whole trip, but it is late and i need sleep after three days of hiking gawking. Also we snuck into Brazil, sans visa, for a dinner and show - so there is lots more to tell and lots of stories to come in the coming weeks. stay tuned because the next ten days or so will be just as busy as anything so far, involving a day trip to Uruguay (bright and early tomorrow) and then off to Santiago and Chile for a few days with Michelle Culligan who is passing through on hewr quest for Easter Island (i am SO jealous!!). Then i settle down to study and write and contemplate and write some more for a month or so. =) As usual i will tease you with pictures that go well past the thousand word quota.

Off to Iguazu

It`s a few days since my last post and we have been busy. Yoko, Ulala, and myself have done a city tour by bus, which was fun (after a mix-up in our booking time) and then we did some shopping downtown. We also did a "Gaucho Tour". This entails driving out to a ranch ("estancia") and having a huge BBQ with wine and beer and seeing live dancing and singing from around the different regions of Argentina, horse-riding, eating lots of meat, and then watching the Gauchos (kind of south-american cowboys) perform their impressive horse-riding skills while learning some of the history of the culture. Overall the tour was excellent! all the preformers were great and the horse-riding was fun and of course the meat was delicious. But i`ll write more about that (and post pictures) later. right now i only have a couple of minutes to pack up and eat breakfast before we head North to Iguazu Falls. We`ll be back on Wednesday and then Thursday we take a short day trip over to Uruguay (just across the river). THEN i will get back to blogging and all that good stuff. i hope. =)