It has been so great to read all of your comments. We are off the ship now and in Santiago,Chile. We had a short morning yesterday in Punt Arenas,Chile which is the capital of southern Patagonia. It is a small city and good size port and most ships seem to stop on their way between the Pacific and Atlantic. It seems very prosperous. I guess there is money in sheep, which is the predominent industry. We had an hour to wander and we went into the church to light a candle. The usual things there but what I found interesting was a beautiful huge mosaic of Christ over the altar and, on either side of Him, was a mosaic of icebergs, guanacos, penquins and Torre del Paine. We also met an old man in the Plaza Mayor named Alberto and we bought from him a small canoe that he made from sealskin. He is an Indian from a local tribe in Puerto Eden. He was nice enough to let us take a picture of him but he seemed a little perplexed by the whole thing. After a 3 hour flight north we ended up at the Santiago Intercontinental, a beautiful hotel and, for some reason, we were given the penthouse suite. We sort of hated to leave it to go out but we had to eat. Too bad we could only stay 1 night but we have moved today to a different section and a lovely small hotel near the downtown but still filled with trees and flowers. Santiago is very hot and this is the middle of summer, running in the high 80s. This morning we mastered the Metro system and saw the changing of the guard at the Palace and visited the big Cathedral and the big main plaza. Santiago is a really clean and modern city. If you squinted a bit and could translate the Spanish, you could be in any big US city- only much cleaner. We met an artist, Juan, and I was so taken with his painting that I bought 2 of them. When he heard we were from the USA he wanted to know if we had heard of Hartford, Ct! Can you imagine! He got so excited when we explained where we were from that he discounted the paintings which were ridiculously cheap anyway and he gave us his mother's phone number. He volunteers each evening teaching disadvantaged and recovering addicts to paint. He was in Hartford to explain his program last October. His style is reminiscent of Van Gogh, using primary colors and broad strokes. He even ran over to some store and bought us a plastic tube to bring them home and would not take money for it.! I love travel and to meet people like Juan and Alberto.
This afternoon we went to Cerro Santa Lucia which is a very high hill in the center of the city. It was founded here in 1540. Nothing left as there have been numerous devastating earthquakes which have leveled the city. We climbed all the way to the top which was frightening as the steps were steep and I HATE HEIGHTS! I swear I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest. When we got to the top of the tower, the wind kicked up and I was nearly paralyzed trying to hold on going down. These are not steps that would be allowed in the US. Nevertheless we could see all of the city and I guess it was worth it- now that I am on terra firma. The last thing I wanted to mention are the dogs. As in many South American cities there are no dog wardens so these friendly creatures roam the streets at will. They seem so placid and content though skinny. It was so funny when they were starting the changing of the guard. They keep all the people away but there was a German shepherd wandering and ended up leading the troops in at the front of the line. Even better was the basset hound who pushed me aside at the fence and sat down beside my foot to get a better look. When he got bored, he up and left. Later as we were leaving the park there were three dogs side by side sleeping lazily on the pavement in the heat when one of them spied a police car. Immediately they were on their feet barking at the car. It was the only reactions we saw from any of the dozens and dozens we saw today. Do you think they can read?
Well I guess that is all I can think of. I am sorry that you all are freezing in the northeast. I love reading and hearing from all of you. Thanks to everyone who is keeping Dad up to date. Morgan, I have seen Chileans who could be your twin. Bonnie, I am hoping the pictures with the binocular camera come out because I have gotten some awesome shots. Eric, I think you would like Chile but it is very different from Argentina. Brit, you would love all the animals and birds/ I wish I had your knowledge about them. Micky, Í wish my pictures would be half as good as yours. Now that I am warm again the Drake is just an awful memory. Did I tell you the crew told us it was their worst crossing ever. Not just the fact that there were 75 foot waves and hurricane winds but that it was so constant. As the week has gone on I have really begun to realize as did the other passengers how frightening it was. We have 1 more day here and then we have a 7 hour bus trip through the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina.