The Idiots are preparing to head back to Arizona from Patagonia in a couple days. The episodes will not be current – they will write and post them as they have time. This one, for example... their first day in Chile... was about 3 weeks ago.
Idiot She slept through the first-class airline breakfast on the plane, so arriving in Santiago in the early morning, making their way to downtown, finding their apartment, finding a way to store their luggage until check-in time - all without speaking Spanish and working with folks who do not speak English... it was late morning and she was famished! The Idiots went in search of Desayuno – Breakfast.
Learning to eat in a new country can be fun or terrifying, depending on one's attitude. The Idiots ended up in a small restaurant near their apartment building and there was no English on the menu. She finally made a guess... and ordered the Vienesa 'Italiano'.
It turned out to be a hot dog – and the 'Italiano' means with mashed avocado, chopped tomatoes, and mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is the condiment of choice on most sandwiches in Chile, so in addition to Italiano there is Completo – mayo, avocado, tomatoes, and sauerkraut... and Aleman (German) – mayo, sauerkraut, and tomatoes... and Suizo – mayo, cheese, and tomatoes. The Idiots are pretty sure the Italians, Germans, and Swiss would not recognize these as national dishes! Throw in a couple of cokes “sin sugar” and brunch was served. Hot dog and coke for breakfast? Why not? When in Santiago...
After their stimulating repast, the Idiots had a few hours to wander until the apartment was ready. The landmark to help them navigate turned out to be a building that fits in the “Must have seemed like a good idea at the time!” category – a tall building built for a Telecom company in the shape of a cell phone – a style of cell phone that was obsolete before the building was completed!
Throughout Santiago... and indeed, throughout Chile... the Idiots found there was a great deal of street art – both officially sanctioned and unofficial. It was often hard to sort out what was art, what was graffitti, and what was old-fashioned tagging.
Another common phenomenon in Chile and Argentina – various kinds of performances at street intersections during traffic light changes. There are many jugglers, dancers, singers, and even (shudder) mimes. This troupe of dancers had a big sound system and quite a repertoire of 60 second performances!
The Idiots wandered across a bridge to the Bellevista “beautiful view” neighborhood, a lively area of arts and bars. The Pio Nino bridge is one of many in the world that have been assaulted by “love padlocks”. This phenomenon appears to be over 100 years old, but has only been widely publicized and adopted in the last 20 years. Lovers swear their undying love by engraving their initials on a padlock and locking it to a public monument – most often a bridge – and throwing the key into the river. Entrepreneurs were quick to jump in, selling padlocks in popular tourist locations. Given the state of modern dating and marriage, it seems like a bolt-cutter franchise could also do a brisk business.
In any case, people consider the padlocks charming or vandalism, depending on circumstances. On the one hand, they are romantic and can be good for the economy. On the other hand, they can be a nuisance to the point of doing damage and they can detract from the beauty in natural settings or historic architecture.
On the Pio Nono bridge in Santiago, the locks have been painted blue and gold and are part of the bridge décor.
Startling – to leave a northern hemisphere winter and find oneself in a southern hemisphere summer. One doesn't expect to find trees dropping blossoms on the sidewalk – in January!
Bellavista has color and street art everywhere one looks!
It was a shock to the system to go from United States winter to Santiago summer with temperatures pushing up toward 100 F. The Idiots needed cold beer – and found a condor and Dolbek from Patagonia...
On the way back to check into their apartment, the Idiots saw... what else? Spiderman climbing a bus...
The apartment was not luxurious – it's a small apartment in a working-class building - but the location, near the old city center, next to a major subway station was ideal for a four day visit. The Idiots figured out how to get in and out of the building... and how the windows into the courtyard area worked... and found that in this kind of old apartment building it is easy to know what kind of music and television people like – and what they are having for dinner!
After a nap, it was time to find real food. The Idiots didn't want to wander far, so they went to a sandwich restaurant nearby that turned out to be a kind of famous place – The Fuente Alemana (The German Fountain). Once more they experienced bewilderment as they tried to work out what the names of the sandwiches meant. The place was famous for their “Rumano” - many reviews describing it as a “must have” - but nobody saying what a “Rumanian” actually is. Did they want a Italian Rumanian... or a German Rumanian... or a Swiss Rumanian... or ???
Fuente Alemana is a fun place – most of the seats are at a counter wrapping around the center area where the sandwiches are assembled. You can watch the various meats – including Rumanos which are burgers made of beef and pork ground together – being grilled and the buns toasted and all the toppings coming together. It's hard to get a good picture of the workers – they are rushing around too fast for regular photography!
This is the kind of place that has made Diners, Drive-ins and Dives famous in the US – a unique place making unique – and delicious – fast food.. The Idiots shared a “Rumano Completo” and were barely able to finish it. The delicate toasted bread barely supported about a half pound burger, beautifully spiced pork and beef... and sauerkraut, tomatoes, avocado, and mayonaise. Slowly making their the walk back to their apartment, the Idiots rolled into bed, full of good food and a sense of accomplishment at successfully finding shelter and food on their first day in a new country.
