The Sculpture of Chile

It seems that in Chile they have a penchant for odd sculpture made out of concrete. In front of every building in the office park where I work a couple of times a year there are these odd chunks of concrete and metal with one water feature thrown in. One was pretty cool, it looks like a businessman with his briefcase and umbrella braving the elements. "Neither wind nor rain nor snow nor dark of night will keep him from his money!"

Others bring to mind an early version of a wheel (sizing is a little off), some alien trees growing, a child's toy or missing automotive part and my favorite, in front of our building, sandbags made out of concrete draped over a pole. Like I said, odd....

Chile itself is great, like No. California used to be but with more Spanish spoken. Now there is a lot of Spanish still in California, but there is a lot of Hindi and Chinese as well. Not so in Chile. Driving in Chile is also an experience. Like a perpetual game of chicken. You poke your nose in and see who wins. There are many cars with various injuries, usually to the front fenders, due to these automotive jousts. I managed 2 weeks without incident except for having to relearn driving a stick with a bad clutch (the clutch smelled a little the first day due to burning).

The ocean is about 90 minutes away or about 150 km. Beautiful bay and nice clean beaches. Water is cold though because of the Humboldt Current from Antarctica. I ate at a little hotel overlooking the water. It was wonderful and the creme brulee' was awesome.

Food in Chile is very fresh with lots of fruits and vegatables. I liked eating there very much. Seafood is the best meat with sea bass at the top. They do like their butter with fish, though. Most everything is poached in butter.

It's a long trip there but I look forward to going back in a couple of months. Then I won't go for a long stretch, gotta play with the grandkids!