Second day in Santiago

Fighting the jetlag/pisco induced urge to sleep past 10:30, we got up to a beautiful sunny day. Opening the blinds, we were treated to a postcard-perfect view of the Andes to the east of Santiago. Very, very impressive. Not unlike the days when Mt. Rainier is visible over Seattle, the Andes towered over the eastern skyline of Santiago.

A little over-breakfast planning, and we were off to enjoy the beautiful weather by taking advantage of more of the views that were to be had. With Brad and Joy, we again hopped on the Metro, taking advantage of its even-on-Sunday timeliness, and headed a few kilometers west.

We then walked through the Bellavista neighborhood, which has many restaurantes, street craft vendors, and cafes to the base of the Cerro San Cristobal. There, we conducted our most successful transaction en Espanol to date, buying roundtrip tickets up the Funicular, including zoo admission at the midway point. The Funicular is essentially a SF cable car, differing by the above-ground cable, but sharing the goal of pulling passengers up a very steep incline.

We got off about a third of the way up the hill (hardly a hill, topping off at close to 900 meters), to visit the zoo. While I'm not sure that I really know, the zoo reminded me of what zoos were like 30-50 years ago. It was a bit sad, but still very entertaining, and given the weather, a great time out. The cages were a bit sparse, but the animals were great as always. And there was the added educational bonus of reading the animal names and plaques and attempting to translate them from Spanish.

After a couple hours of lobos marinos, jirafos and osos, we got back on the funicular to ride to the top of the hill. As luck would have it, we ended up in the car that propelled Pope John Paul II up to the top on April 1st, 1987 (or so the plaque said, we think). Atop the hill, there is a beautiful terrace again overlooking the city. Yes, city views seem to be a bit of a theme so far.

We also had the opportunity to sample a few more traditional Chilean treats. An empanada con carne, and mote con huesillo. The former being a fried pastry with meat, olives, onions, and egg. The latter being something that looked awfully scary looking, but tasting quite good (apricot in tea, essentially).

The rest of the day was spent milling about artisan booths, drinking cafe, and later a fantastic dinner at Sebastian's house.

Okay. Tomorrow, the conference begins...

Also: More pictures are up on the same site as yesterday's.