BACK IN CHILE ONCE AGAIN

I Know, New Year´s has already come and gone, and only now I am getting to the point of posting my first blog entry while on this new but relativels short visit to Chile. Figure that the delay was necessary because once my long and tiring flight landed in Santiago, ending 17 hours of near non-stop travel, things quickly became complicated. To begin with, my friend/agent Andres has had to deal with some dramatic changes in his own business and life, largely due to the difficult economy (yes, Chile is suffering too).

He had to close down his office in Santiago Centro (the Lys Rent-A-Car office on Miraflores) and also found himself a much smaller apartment out in the non-tourist urban high-rise barrio of Vitacura. He consolidated his car rental business (after selling off all of his cars) into a partnership with a friend who runs another car rental business, ironically-named "Free Rent-A-Car." Of course, the cars aren´t free...don´t ask me why the name...

The two pictures on the right present a couple of views of the urban canyons of the high-rise district in Santiago´s barrio Vitacura, and were taken from the north-facing window of Andres´apartment.

My first night in Chile was spent in that apartment, and since Andres had to work in the afternoon, I too advantage of the solitude afforded by being left alone in his apartment to sleep for most of the afternoon. That evening, however, I went with Andres to pick up his three kids and we came back to the apartment where he staged a small welcoming party for me with lots of party nibbles and of course, Andres´very special recipie for pisco sour. His girlfriend Cecilia (better known as "Chica") came by and joined the gathering.

The next day (December 31) I got my rental car from "Free" Rent-A-Car and made my way onto the Costanera Norte, which is the commuter highway that runs under the Rio Mapocho and through Santiago Centro to Carretera No. 68, which leads past the airport on the west side of the metropolis and then through a pair of tunnels en route to the coast and the cities of Valparaiso and Viña Del Mar. Of course Ruta 68 is a busy highway on most days, but this was the day of New Year´s Eve, and hordes of Santiaguenos were on the road driving out to Valparaiso for the massive New Year´s celebrations there. The traffic reminded me of the worst excesses of the L.A. Freeways on any given Friday afternoon, but of course, these Chilean highways aren´t free...at regular intervals there are mandatory toll booths, in Chilean, known as Plazas de Peaje, where all vehicles are obligated to pass through and pay the road tolls. Of course, these toll stops are common throughout the major improved Chilean highway system, and usually the stop to pay is a fairly seamless excercise. But on this day, it almost reminded me of a crowded U.S. customs station on the Mexican border.

Luckily I only had to pass through two of these rather significant impediments before taking the turnoff to Algarrobo, a decent two-lane highway with many fewer cars. The turn left to the pueblito of El Tortoral followed quickly, and soon I was passing through Isla Negra and again past the Casa de Neruda and finally, El Tabo and my digs at Las Siete Cabañas. There´s a picture of the view from my good old Cabaña No. 5, where I once again settled in, just like a year ago, but this time, for only a stay of eight days, and not four weeks.

My reunion with Diego and Luisa and their two teenage kids, Diego hijo and Conie, was warm and wonderful. We all were glad that I had returned for an encore visit (my third stay here) and after I´d gone into El Tabo Centro to get groceries, we go9t together for one of Luisa´s fine almuerzos (lunch).

For New Year´s, we got together again under the new outdoor pavilion roof and had a marvelous cena (dinner) at midnight while watching the fireworks over Bahía Cartagena to the south. Once we´d finished our meal we kept on, dancing and partying far into the wee hours of the morning, which is the custom here on the Chilean coast. For many Chileans, the drinking and making merry over New Year´s continues until dawn, but I could only make it to 4:30 a.m. before I had to excuse myself to drag myself back to my cabin where I collapsed into bed for a ragged sleep.

You can imagine that New Year´s Day for me didn´t amount to much. It didn´t for Diego and Luisa either, as everyone pretty much slept through the morning ans then spent the afternoon quietly resting up for the onset of 2009.

In my next post I will say a bit about all of the construction going on here at Las Siete Cabañas, which is in the midst of a major facelift and overhaul. Hopefully, I)´ll get that posted tomorrow. Until then, I´ll wish all who visit here a Feliz Año Nuevo, or a Happy New Year!