TheBanyanTree: Winding it Up

[B Drummond]

Flying into Chile from Uruguay included the great views of the Andes and 
  it worked out that as soon as we crossed the Andes we descended 
steeply to position ourselves to land in Santiago.  The steep mountains 
to the east of Santiago, some with snow on them, provided a beautiful 
backdrop.  We arrived as the sun was setting in more fabulous weather. 
One thing that I sorely missed on this entire trip was a good hard rain. 
  I was so wanting to enjoy a tropical rain during this trip but in the 
16 days since we left in mid-April it never rained once.

Santiago was one of the most modern, if not the most modern city in 
South America that I visited.  It, unlike Buenos Aires or Montevideo, 
seemed to me to be influenced more by the USA than Europe. We stayed 
near downtown and worked long hours for the two days that we stayed.  We 
had no chance to do sightseeing.  We did have some fabulous food though 
in one restaurant in the city (I had ceviche, of course) and another 
great meal -- an award winning Chilean dish, Pastel de Choclo, with 
raisins, green olives, eggs, and two kinds of layered meat on the bottom 
(pork and beef   strips), along with mashed corn on the top, toasted 
perfectly layer -- at a restaurant on the way to one of the famous 
vineyards not far outside of the city of Santiago.  The Pastel de Choclo 
was so good that I'm gonna' attempt making it at home next week.

Chile has some fabulous vistas and great variety but on this trip we, 
due to our work load, were not able to see much of anything that was not 
directly related to business.  Could I complain about that?  Not hardly.

Then it was on to a nonstop red-eye flight from Santiago to Atlanta, 
leaving around 8:00 pm and arriving around 6:00 am.   While it was 
wonderful to finally be home after 16 days on the road (there is no bed 
in the world that I can sleep in and get the quality of rest that I can 
at home) I'm already ready, hoping and praying, for another chance to go 
back.




   bd
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