I'm certain that West Coast living has a positive effect on a person's psyche. No matter what transpired over the course of the day, watching the sun set over the ocean makes the mind go numb. Time stops. Peripherals cease to exist.
Beach towns share a calm and peaceful environment. As soon as you hit the sand troubles fade away and a new life begins. Vina del Mar would fit in nicely among the Southern California beach communities. After classes, students play volleyball on the beach. After work, business suits and briefcases turn to wetsuits and surf boards. Vina del Mar even has the off-coast oil freighters that dot the Southern California coastline. Their presence reminded me of Manhattan Beach and I wondered what was the ships original departure point.
I joined the after school and work crowd at a restaurant along the beach and ordered a beer to help accentuate the mind numbing experience.
The greatest trick the mind can pull while on vacation is to forget you are on vacation. There's a sensational feeling of burying yourself in a book at a cafe then emerging on to the street an hour later to "remember" you are half-way around the world. Drinking a beer and watching the sun set over the Pacific returned me Los Angeles. With the beer finished its back to reality and an upcoming hour bus ride back to Santiago.
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Beach towns share a calm and peaceful environment. As soon as you hit the sand troubles fade away and a new life begins. Vina del Mar would fit in nicely among the Southern California beach communities. After classes, students play volleyball on the beach. After work, business suits and briefcases turn to wetsuits and surf boards. Vina del Mar even has the off-coast oil freighters that dot the Southern California coastline. Their presence reminded me of Manhattan Beach and I wondered what was the ships original departure point.
I joined the after school and work crowd at a restaurant along the beach and ordered a beer to help accentuate the mind numbing experience.
The greatest trick the mind can pull while on vacation is to forget you are on vacation. There's a sensational feeling of burying yourself in a book at a cafe then emerging on to the street an hour later to "remember" you are half-way around the world. Drinking a beer and watching the sun set over the Pacific returned me Los Angeles. With the beer finished its back to reality and an upcoming hour bus ride back to Santiago.
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Earlier in the day I ambled through Valparaiso's red, yellow, blue, purple, and orange colored houses. I walked through the city's past.
I took an "ascensor" ride to the upper levels of Valparaiso and this is where you can see the cities beauty. Many of the homes on the higher hills are brightly painted and make for terrific photos. I found a cafe in this area for a late lunch. Later in the afternoon I walked back down and rode the metro along the coast to Vina del Mar.
Valparaiso and Vina del Mar make for an excellent single or multi-day escapes from Santiago...as a tourist it's a lot less crowded to go during the week vs. a weekend when a bunch of Santiguans join in the escape. I caught a bus from Parito, one of the eastern bus stations, (this saves a lot of time instead of going to the central bus station) to Valparaiso. Once I arrived in Valparaiso it took a little while to get oriented but then it was a fairly decent walk from the bus depot to the site seeing area. I used a few of Bourdain's recommendations as a guide but these turned out to be some major strike outs - the Mercado Central was closed and Bar La Playa does not serve pisco sours...at least not at two in the afternoon.
I took an "ascensor" ride to the upper levels of Valparaiso and this is where you can see the cities beauty. Many of the homes on the higher hills are brightly painted and make for terrific photos. I found a cafe in this area for a late lunch. Later in the afternoon I walked back down and rode the metro along the coast to Vina del Mar.
Valparaiso and Vina del Mar make for an excellent single or multi-day escapes from Santiago...as a tourist it's a lot less crowded to go during the week vs. a weekend when a bunch of Santiguans join in the escape. I caught a bus from Parito, one of the eastern bus stations, (this saves a lot of time instead of going to the central bus station) to Valparaiso. Once I arrived in Valparaiso it took a little while to get oriented but then it was a fairly decent walk from the bus depot to the site seeing area. I used a few of Bourdain's recommendations as a guide but these turned out to be some major strike outs - the Mercado Central was closed and Bar La Playa does not serve pisco sours...at least not at two in the afternoon.
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SANTIAGO
South American seems to straddle third world charm with first world glitz. A gap between the colonial past of humble natives and a new wave of European sophistication. Santiago seems to be right in the center of this dynamic shift and does a wonderful job of mixing old and new. The city retains its colonial roots like Quito and Bogota and also has a cool sophistication like Buenos Aires. There's no standout features which helps to relax and enjoy the flow of the local environment. An extension of the city "limits" West, to include the ocean side towns of Valparaiso and Villa de Mar, and East to include the Andes mountains, creates a very diverse and dynamic metropolitan area, somewhat similar to Los Angeles. It's no wonder a third of Chile's eighteen million citizens call this area home.
The historical area of Santiago has several pedestrian walkways which serve as a major shopping thoroughfare of the city. There are a couple of outdoor restaurants and cafes that allow for great people watching. After a nice drive along the Pan American highway, with gorgeous mountains to the East and rows of crops to the West, I arrived in Santiago and went straight to the central shopping area and ordered a hot dog at Domino's. Chile is renowned for their pork products but this hot dog was so loaded with toppings I'd have to wait until biting to know if there was any pork in the sandwich. This area of the city is also known for its coffee shops, aka Cafe con Piernas...you shouldn't get your hopes up...it's a bunch of middle aged women wearing skimpy dresses. I ordered a coffee at Cafe Caribe. There's no chairs so you stand around a counter, look at the women, drink your coffee, then head on your way.
The next day I walked around Santiago. I passed through Plaza de Armas where the military band was playing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and continued up to Mercado Central. This market felt a little too touristy...as soon as you walked into the main "dining" area hosts are jamming English menus in your facing and pulling chairs out for you to dine at their restaurant. I passed and crossed over the street to Mercado Vega which was a huge fruit, vegetables, and olive warehouse packed with locals. I ordered a chicken soup lunch from an outside counter. That night I ate dinner at Boulevard Navidad, an historical restaurant. The restaurant has an awesome setup - it was part cafe, part hair salon, part restaurant - in a restored mansion, however, the food didn't match the quality of the decor or high price.
South American seems to straddle third world charm with first world glitz. A gap between the colonial past of humble natives and a new wave of European sophistication. Santiago seems to be right in the center of this dynamic shift and does a wonderful job of mixing old and new. The city retains its colonial roots like Quito and Bogota and also has a cool sophistication like Buenos Aires. There's no standout features which helps to relax and enjoy the flow of the local environment. An extension of the city "limits" West, to include the ocean side towns of Valparaiso and Villa de Mar, and East to include the Andes mountains, creates a very diverse and dynamic metropolitan area, somewhat similar to Los Angeles. It's no wonder a third of Chile's eighteen million citizens call this area home.
The historical area of Santiago has several pedestrian walkways which serve as a major shopping thoroughfare of the city. There are a couple of outdoor restaurants and cafes that allow for great people watching. After a nice drive along the Pan American highway, with gorgeous mountains to the East and rows of crops to the West, I arrived in Santiago and went straight to the central shopping area and ordered a hot dog at Domino's. Chile is renowned for their pork products but this hot dog was so loaded with toppings I'd have to wait until biting to know if there was any pork in the sandwich. This area of the city is also known for its coffee shops, aka Cafe con Piernas...you shouldn't get your hopes up...it's a bunch of middle aged women wearing skimpy dresses. I ordered a coffee at Cafe Caribe. There's no chairs so you stand around a counter, look at the women, drink your coffee, then head on your way.
The next day I walked around Santiago. I passed through Plaza de Armas where the military band was playing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and continued up to Mercado Central. This market felt a little too touristy...as soon as you walked into the main "dining" area hosts are jamming English menus in your facing and pulling chairs out for you to dine at their restaurant. I passed and crossed over the street to Mercado Vega which was a huge fruit, vegetables, and olive warehouse packed with locals. I ordered a chicken soup lunch from an outside counter. That night I ate dinner at Boulevard Navidad, an historical restaurant. The restaurant has an awesome setup - it was part cafe, part hair salon, part restaurant - in a restored mansion, however, the food didn't match the quality of the decor or high price.
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My last day in Santiago I went to the northern neighborhoods and stopped at Fuente Alemna, one of Bourdain's places...I'm starting to realize maybe I should skip over his recommendations. This place is kind of like the Pat's or Geno's of Santiago. Decent food but nothing extraordinary. Afterwards I walked over to the Bellavista area which has streets lined with outdoor eating and a lot of activity. I took the tram up to the peak of Cerro Castillo then headed back down and hung out in the Patio Bellavista complex. While drinking a beer later that night in the Bario Brasil area I couldn't help but feel that with the mountains in the east, ocean to the west, and a laid back environment that I was back in Los Angeles and not a few thousand miles away in a different country.
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For additional Santiago photos see FLICKR ALBUM.