A few hours sleep drastically improved my mood. I spent the afternoon walking around Santiago, which is a great walking city. I also had lunch with a couple of mining company executives – they devoured some kind of belly buster pizza while I ate Mediterranean salad (heavy on the mushrooms), and we split an order of fried Ecuadorian shrimp, which are excellent.
It’s always good to eat lunch with happy miners/explorers; their good moods are infectious. I got to hear about not only what is but what might be; and a miner telling that kind of tale is a lot of fun to listen to. Some of these things are so speculative that they aren’t even for putting in issues, but I’ll share what I can after I sort it out.
Walking around Santiago, my impression is this is like other cities in Spain or southern Italy. It could even be South Florida with a higher percentage of swarthiness. I’m a cyclist, and I was surprised to see the two bikes I was able to check out closely had no gears on them. In a city in the Andes? The Chileans must have legs of steel. Heck, I ride a 24-speed bike in the flatlands of Florida.
Looking at this photo, you can see how the mountains loom over the town, though the photo doesn’t do them justice. Smog lay over the city, but it was still a nice Spring day. 
People were out just enjoying the sunshine, street musicians played noisily, and a lot of couples were canoodling in the park. So, yes, Santiago is like other big cities, only with Chilean flavor.
The food is excellent – one of my friends on the tour told me he had one of the best meals of his life last night in Santiago – and the wine has a reputation for being delicious, though we aren’t drinking because alcohol can worsen the effects of High Altitude Sickness.
In 30 minutes, we’re heading back to the airport and flying off to our next destination. Then we drive to a very high elevation, where we’ll look at what is probably one of the best gold finds of the decade. Internet connection is terrible at the hotel where I am now; we’ll see if it’s any better in the mountains. So you may not hear from me, but check back in case I have more photos and stories to tell.
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