No, not 9/11 in New York City when the twin towers came crashing down, but 9/11/1973 when Chile's own military overthrew their democratically elected government.We visited a human rights museum in Santiago and were shocked by the horrible stories. On Chile's 9/11 tanks shelled the presidential palace while aircraft dropped bombs. During the attack, President Allende committed suicide, and thus ended Chile's socialist goverment. During the period betw...

We really like Santiago. With 6 million people it's not nearly as big as Buenos Aires, nor does it have the history, but it has a freshness about it. There's tons of stuff to do and beautiful neighborhoods to stroll through day or night with cute little eclectic cafes. We rented an apartment in el centro just blocks from the presidential palace and the main square, so everything was either a short walk or a metro ride away.But I am sooooo far behind on t...

We've veen stuck here on the border--way in the tips of the mountains---for 2 hours now. In a line of buses on our way across the Andes from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile, we sit and sit until someone comes on the bus and yells something about documentos and we all file out.  I'm not about to leave the camera bag, two kindles and an ipad on the bus though, so me and my weighted down shoulder bag head down the steps and into the customs shed for ...

Dinner at 10:30...we're really getting into this late dinning --even if we were the first people in the restaurant, but by the time the show started the place had filled up.Argentine folkloric, it's called. The music every Argentine knows to his bones --their feet beat out the rhythm--sometimes bouncing in their seats---as they sing along.Dancers literally float across the floor waving their white scarfs in graceful, dramatic gestures that make you wish y...

We go to check out of our room and there's a present and a note waiting for us at the desk. Ayelen, (pronounced Ashlin) wife of the manager we've gotten to know while here, has left us a chilled bottle of water and a thanks-for-being-you note.  We'd been having a lot of fun with this young couple the last couple of days--them and their 3 Musketeer friends. Ayelen speaks passable English so having her around made a world of difference here. She took ...