STL DPB On The Road: Buenos Aires

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It's 4:55 AM Sunday morning and we just got up to go to the airport for out flight to El Calafate. We had a little time for a walk when we got to Buenos Aires yesterday afternoon so we went to famous Recoleta Cemetery. Eva Peron is the best known resident but her tomb, shared with many family members, is not so impressive. There is still lots of weepy funerary sculpture to photograph. More later if possible.

STL DPB At The Beach: Vina del Mar, Chile

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Welcome to the Chilean Riviera. Well, perhaps more like the Costa del Sol - it's all so new. Vina del Mar, just north of the old port of Valparaiso and 90 minutes drive from Santiago, has beautiful beaches, great restaurants, luxury condos and a summer to dream of. One of the reasons I posted this is to annoy my friends back in North America, who are having a miserable winter.

Buenos Aires tonight, briefly, and then on to El Calafate early tomorrow morning.

STL DPB On The Road: In The Cathedral of Santiago

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A lot of people take their Catholicism seriously in Chile (although a lot of others don't these days). We visited the dark and cavernous Cathedral de Santiago on Plaza des Armas, the main town square. We like this city. It has energy and beautiful people, a successful blend of European and indigenous ancestors.

A pleasant day trip is planned for today, down to the Pacific coast to visit Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

There are more pictures on Flickr here.

Bonus photo: political discourse in Chile.

STL DPB On The Road: Santiago de Chile

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Okay, so here's the previously undisclosed location. Three nights here then over to Argentina with stops in El Calafate and, of course, Buenos Aires.

We got to the hotel early afternoon and then went out for a wander. Our first impression is that this a modern, mostly prosperous city. The metro area has more than 5 million people, a third of the whole country (well, it is the most strangely shaped country on earth). Prices aren't bad by American standards. It has a great (and very cheap) Metro, which took us near to a funicular up San Cristobal hill. On top there's a sweeping view of the city and a very large statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. There''s a picture of it on Flickr here.

Even though we just got here, we've seen some of the best graffiti anywhere. And these beer delivery guys work hard on a hot day (about 90 F. or 32 C.).

Thursday Arch Series - On Wednesday

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Why this disruption of the delicate balance of natural cycles? By Wednesday, we'll be settling down in the antipodes, sort of, and I want to hold open Thursday's post for our STL DPB On The Road location. Come back tomorrow and find out where. Anyway, this pictures gives some idea of the Arch's distance from the rest of downtown. The tall building on the left is barely shorter than the monument, which illustrated the scale.

Just Another Pretty Face

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Just a quick note as I am frantically packing on Monday night. Some people say there is a resemblance between dogs and their owners or that people have pets that are a reflection of them. There are exceptions.

The picture below is my favorite from the Barkus Parade.

I have not forgotten my CDP friends. Like they sing in Rocky Horror, I'm doing the time warp again. I have some sit-arounds in airports today. I hope I can catch up.

Woof

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There is a moderately sized but very enthusiastic Mardi Gras celebration here. Two Saturdays before the great drinkathon we have the Barkus dog parade, a canine extravaganza. There were hundreds and hundreds of people of people and pooches there yesterday. Some web site claimed that this is the biggest dog parade in the country. I don't know if that's right but somebody has to have it.

SO WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? Saturday's schedule was get up, go to the office, go home, eat dinner, go to the symphony (SLSO music director David Robertson conducted a kick-ass Eroica), go home, go to bed. No pictures. Yesterday's was get up, skim the Sunday papers, go to the office, run down to Soulard and shoot the dog parade, go back to the office, go home, download the photos and edit a couple, go out to dinner with my wife for our annual Stupid Bowl party, go home, write this, go to bed. HOW MUCH OF THE STUPID BOWL I WATCHED: none. We think football is appalling, a sport that wrecks the joints and brains of the players, who are thrown in the dumpster after providing mass spectacle. We've had our own private Stupid Bowl party for maybe 25 years, dining out during the game. This year we tried the delicious Persian cuisine of Cafe Natasha on South Grand. WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR THE WEEK? More dogs tomorrow, the Thursday Arch Series on Wednesday just to disrupt the rhythm of the universe, then a special post Thursday from an as-yet undisclosed location. We're off on another junket. You'll never guess where.