South America - March 7th - Santiago

March 7th was the only legitimate off day for Sara's group, so we had the tour guide take us around the city and show us what was up with Santiago. We stopped by the Presidential Palace to see what was going on but sadly we weren't allowed to go in. The Palace is adjacent to a large square. I think we all know what South American squares outside of presidential palaces are used for revolution (REVOLUTION, Revolution in the streets!!!). Sure enough, the facades of all the buildings that lined the square were covered with bullet holes. I mean, why fix the bullet holes when you'll just have to fix them again after the next revolution (REVOLUTION!!!!). Just a few short blocks from the Palace was a shopping district and this was the next stop on our tour. It was in this shopping district that I learned about a very high class piece of Chilean society. Our tour guide was really excited to show us this place. Cafes con piernes. Coffee with legs. Coffee with legs is a genre of coffee shop where your coffee is served by scantily clad women on raised platforms. No nudity (remember I said high class). Let me tell you, the coffee was exquisite.
Actually, the whole experience was really awkward. Sara went two days in a row, so she must have not thought so. Since coffee makes you go to the bathroom (el bano) in about 30 seconds after you drink it, I had to find a public one. Most of the shops downtown don't have a bathroom and you have to use a pay version. Kinda like riding the subway in that you pay for a ticket and then are allowed to go through a turnstile in the bathroom. One thing that's tricky is that toilet paper isn't kept in the stalls. You have to get it before you go to the stalls. That would be a heck of a mistake to make. Since you have to pay for entry, it was a really clean public bathroom. So at least they have that going for them.

We ended up heading to the fish market to take a look around and also to grab lunch. Nothing like seeing what you are going to eat before you eat it. Similarly, there is nothing like picking something to eat and then afterward seeing what whatever you ate looks like. We realized quickly that this is one of those deals in which the tour guide takes us to a certain restaurant and then they eat for free. That’s fine. I have no problem with that. Especially if the food is good. Luckily, the place they chose did have good food. A bit of confusion was encountered when we ordered appetizers. We thought we were getting a sampler of different dishes, but in reality we got something like 7 different (mussels, snails, abalones, clams, shrimp, squid, oysters) full appetizers. That’s a bit much for 6 people. Especially when they don’t know that’s what they are getting and also order a full meal. Pretty hilarious really.

After lunch we took a trip to the top of this mountain that overlooks the city. Pretty cool view. The only sad part about it is that our entire time in Santiago we didn’t get to see the city framed by the Andes Mountains in the background. Most people will say smog. The people of Santiago deny that it’s smog. You can believe whatever you want. At the top of the mountain there is a large statue of the Virgin Mary that overlooks the city (very similar to the statue of Jesus that overlooks Rio De Janeiro). There is also a ski lift that takes you from the mountain top to the base. That ride wasn’t so much fun. Especially when the lift stops in the middle and you’re just swinging back and forth.