The 18th and 19th Chile celebrates 200 years of independence unlike other years this is the bicentennial and the City is completely decorated. A large number of folks flee to the coast to celebrate. This year all business are shut down Friday to Monday. I went to the grocery store yesterday and it was a mob scene- carts full of meat. It is a total meat and seafood fest here.Chileans are know for their pork products and seafood- some stuff I have never seen before.
When I say shut down I mean a ghost town. I woke up this morning to go for a short run. I must digress for a moment to describe the tranquility and calm of my run this morning it really was a gift. It was about 67F so perfect running weather. It is just the start of spring and all the flowers were in bloom there was a lot of dew for the early crisp air and the smell of gardenias and juniper were so fragrant. I felt like I was running through a perfume commercial. While my apartment is in a commerical district it only takes about 5 blocks to get into the residential areas with the gardens.
So back to the ghost town-There was no one on the street. Occassionally I came across an elder watering their yard and would get an odd look. I have not seen another runner since I have arrived- that may explain the looks.
Just the other day on the same run The traffic was at a snails pace and the sidewalks in the commerical district were shoulder to shoulder. Today no cars- a few buses and not one business open. I mean it not a one. I thought I was on a movie set and showed up for the wrong day of production. I could not believe it- even the restaurant at the Radisson Hotel across the street was closed. It reminded me of when I was very little in Florida on Christmas day where nothing would be open. Here not even the equivalent to WAWA is open. Can you imagine???
We leave in one hour to Zappallar on the coast about 2 hours away from Santiago. Will tell you all about it when I sign back on, on Monday.
Abrazos,
No comments:
Post a Comment