South America Highlights: Have a Little Pisco

Here are some highlights of our vacation to South America.

March 11, 2009:
Have a little Pisco
We arrived in Santiago Wednesday morning. I was happy to be off the plane but the first order of business off to plane was pay the arrival “reciprocity” tax which all US citizens have to pay because the US government taxes all of the Chilean citizens coming into the US. I don’t really understand the reason why the U.S. does it but I understand Chile saying “Oh yeah, you’re going to tax us? Right back at ya!” Susie and I each shelled out our $130 but we don’t have to pay it again for life of our current passport. After the standard customs-immigration business and a scary taxi ride, we arrived at the Chilhotel, a low key cozy European style hotel, located on a side street right off of Avenida Providencia, a main street in Santiago. Susie was not immediately impressed with our because our room was right off the stairwell and close to the hotel desk; it was very noisy when we check in. However, it did quiet down eventually.



After a nap, we walked around the Providencia (where our hotel is located) and Bellavista neighborhoods. Providencia is a nice upper-middle class neighborhood with shops, restaurants and bars line both sides of Avenida Providencia. We found a little side market filled with tons of used book stores and some beauty salons. Bellavista is a more bohemian neighborhood where a lot of the young and the hip of Santiago hangout. Artisan stores selling handmade lapiz azul jewelry and bars lined the streets. I’m tempted to compare Haight-Ashbury but that’s not fair to Bellavista; there were no poser hippies or angry smacked out street kids sitting on the sidewalks. Bellavista is also home to La Chascona, one of Pablo Neruda’s homes (one of three-- not bad for a poet), & Cerro San Cristobal-a hill with great views of Santiago. We tried to visit La Chascona on our first day but they were getting ready to close.

Later that night Susie and I met up with our friend Richard, at Liguria, a bar near our hotel, for his stag night. His wedding is the reason we took this trip. It was great to see him as we've missed him and Robby, his lovely bride, since we left the Bay Area months ago. At the bar, we are introduced to Richard's brother Mark, Dermott, a good friend of Richard's who has come from Ireland, and a brother-in-law whose name (Sorry!). We’re only there for five minutes when Monica, Claudia and Tony walked in. Susie knows Monica as Monica used to live in San Francisco but since has moved back to Santiago. Claudia is good friend of Robby's from school. Tony, good friend of Richard’s and fellow Irish expatriate, came straight off the flight from his home in Brazil to the bar.

The drinks and conversation flowed for the rest of the night. My first one is a pisco sour and it’s good. Pisco, a hard liquor, is the national drink of Chile. The pisco sour is pretty similar to a whiskey sour. After that it was a couple of beers and then somebody suggested a round of piscola; pisco + cola. The first round of piscola was a little rough. The flesh on the back of my throat was singed by the fumes! Claudia and Monica sent the drinks back and made the bartenders do it right. On the second attempt, the glasses were HALF filled with Pisco and that made a big difference; it is perfectly, smooth. We kept talking and drinking until 3am, when the bar closed and we all shuffled out of the bar. Susie and I walked back to our room exhausted from our travels, drunk from beer and pisco but happy to meet old and new friends.

During the night, we met one of the the richest men in Chile, a guy who had moved to New York City and sold peanuts on the street before starting the Nuts2Nuts peanut street vending company. He is very famous in Chile (later in Valparaiso, a tour guide mentioned him and I respond “Oh yeah we met that guy at a bar in Santiago”).