Observation deck of tallest building in Latin America
So when you are sitting in Washington D.C. and look at a map of South America, La Paz looks pretty darn close to Santiago, Chile…but looks are deceiving. Turns out, it’s not so easy to get from one place to another. I left my hotel in Bolivia at midnight Saturday night (after my fun day of siteseeing and shopping) to catch a 3:30 AM flight to Bogota, Colombia…and then back down south about six hours to Santiago, Chile – remind me to NOT do that again! But all’s well that ends well, and I made it just fine, and got into Santiago last Sunday evening.
Santiago is night and day different from La Paz. It’s sophisticated and modern with a European feel. I was downtown, a few blocks from the Embassy, and as usual didn’t see much…but what I saw was lovely. A very sidewalk cafe feel to the town. It didn’t get dark until 9PM or so, and even then people were still out at the mall, on the street, and at cafes.
Cafe-lined streets
All the park benches are painted!
The tallest building in Latin America was next door to my hotel and also housed a very upscale shopping mall. The night before I left, I took the quick trip to the top (61 floors) to see the sunset. It was an amazingly fun experience and the views were gorgeous. I couldn’t help but squeal when the doors opened and I saw the view.
The view! The mountains!
Sunset!
The consular section I visited in Santiago was very nice with a fun staff. To top off a good work week, I was able to have lunch with our friends Carla and Mike who we knew well in Islamabad. I also had drinks with Nicole from my A-100 class at her house after work one evening and got to see her husband again and meet her two children. It’s so fun to see familiar faces when I travel!
I finished up Friday afternoon at the office (the consular chief opened a bottle of nice Chilean wine to celebrate the good week), then I was off to the airport. Unfortunately, my driver went to the wrong hotel, but I was lucky to catch a ride with a Miami businessman to the airport – he had been to the Concha y Toro vineyard and we passed the time comparing notes on wine and vineyards.
I made easy connections in Atlanta on the way back and was in my apartment by 10:30 AM Saturday morning. John had gone to brunch for Jimmi’s birthday, which I was sorry to have missed.
Today we drove to Alexandria to our friend Kat’s house for another rug show by our friend Obaid from Pakistan…and yes, we ended up with another rug, a “kilim” for the kitchen! Lovely.
Click to see all of my photos from last week’s trip to Bolivia…and then again for this week’s trip to Chile!
Lovely street scene