We got up and went for our coffee and relaxed during the
morning. We had a good breakfast on the
back deck in the grill and then met our tour group for our trip to
Santiago. We are docked today in
Valparaiso. Our guide Eduardo met us and
we started the very long hour and 45 minute drive to Santiago, the capital of
Chile. Eduardo talked incessantly, many
times about the politics of Chile. He
seems to defend Allende and Pinochet. I
always thought they were “bad guys”!
We arrived in Santiago to discover that it is a very large
capital city. We drove to a large
mansion and walked around.
Unfortunately, it has been damaged with the earthquakes and not
repaired. Eduardo told us many visiting
dignitaries have stayed here including Queen Elizabeth. We drove to the center of government, and
their “White House” where their woman President works. Many of the ministries are around the large
plaza that we visited.
Large private mansion where visiting dignitaries used to stay. Damaged in the earthquake!
The Chilean "White House"
Government building next to the White House
Statues of political leaders in Chilean history
Guards at the Chilean White House
Strange statue of modern leader but in Greek robes!
Large government building in Santiago
Beautiful carved adornment over a door on a Museum
Modern Santiago - tallest high rise in South America
Then we went to a large park on a hill that overlooked
Santiago. We got out and took
pictures. The tallest building in South
America is in Santiago. We then went to
a mall and had lunch at a buffet – Gatsbys.
Many of the people in our group were upset that the lunch cost $17 US
each which they thought was too much.
Give me a break. We enjoyed our
lunch and glass of wine. We walked
around the large mall and treated ourselves to a Starbucks coffee.
We then went to a craft mall where there were shops. Many of the women were upset that we didn’t
spend more time here, but quite frankly, there wasn’t much to buy and they
didn’t buy anything either. So it worked
out!!!!
We then started the long ride back to Valparaiso. Naps were in order. Eduardo talked politics on the microphone the
entire way.
The Chilean naval fleet in port
Sailing out of Valparaiso, Chile at sunset
We went to Horizons and had a drink before showering and
dressing for dinner. We then went to
Martinis and Tim had a martini before dinner.
We went to the grill and got a table on the back deck – plenty were open
as it was a bit cooler and most people wanted to stay inside. They had fresh mahi-mahi on the grill so I
had that and lobster.
We skipped the show which was classical music with the 4
women from the Ukraine playing strings.
We watched some TV and went to bed about 11. The seas were a little calmer than last
night.
No comments:
Post a Comment