A different kind of journey...: Corte de pelo y mucho más

Been here long enough that it is time for a corte de pelo. Erin and I notice a tienda just around the corner from the apartment, so we stopped in on Thursday for my first hair cut that hasn't been Lauri buzzing my head in over quince años. A lot has changed in how hair is cut in fifteen years, but some things stay the same. After the hair cut the hairdresser shaved my neck with a straight razor - something I've never been real excited about. An interesting piece is that we stopped in and I tried to indicated a buzz cut with my malo español. Turns out the lady lived in Rhode Island for 9 years and spoke good English. After the hair cut she asked me if I wanted my hair washed. Why bother? I think she was just trying to be polite. After finishing for 5 mil pesos (about $10), she handed me her card in case I wanted to make an appointment next time. Interesting, as there were three people working there and I was the only customer for the duration.

Last night we went down to our favorite restaurant at about 8:30pm or so. It isn't located in the Barrio Bellavista area, where restaurants stay open late - in part because Chileans typically don't eat supper until around 8 pm. However, our restaurant was closed - but they asked us what we wanted and prepared it anyway. That doesn't happen very often where I come from.

Bruce Springsteen is coming to Santiago on September 12, and we are going to go. I saw him on the Born in the USA tour back in the 80's. I've never been a huge fan - Seger has a much better catalog of songs - but he does put on an entertaining show. Clarence Clemons' son has been playing the sax, so it will be interesting to see that. Clarence Clemons and and Alto Reed (Seger's Silver Bullet Band saxophonist) add so much to the concerts that I'm hoping the genes transferred to the next generation. (Clarence died a few years ago for those who don't follow)

Erin and I went for a walk yesterday in the 75 degree winter temperatures. There are blossoms starting to come out on the trees. Speaking of trees, there aren't that many in the areas of Chile we have seen so far. The parks have some nice ones and it seems trees are quite valued. Check out the sidewalk below -- they build sidewalks around the trees almost to the point where the sidewalks aren't usable.

Street signs can be confusing too. Try and figure out where to go in this intersection...

Last week we rode the Funicular up to the top of San Cristobal. This arch is actually an overpass for the Funicular. As you can see, it is a pretty steep ascent.

I've talked about San Cristobal quite a bit. It is a 900 foot hill in the NE center of Santiago. This is a picture of the park with roads and trails. (Click picture to zoom). At the top is a 22 meter statue of Mary.

I typically run from the very center of the picture down the road in the green area toward the left central area of the picture and around the left side and around to the top. Try to impose the below map onto the green one and you get the idea.

This gives you an idea of the way the elevation goes. The little decline at about 1.5 miles (the dip below 2000 feet) is where I'm running down hill under the Funicular arch. Overall the elevation gain is 938 feet according to my GPS watch. Total distance to top and back on this route is 9 miles.

Now that I've mentioned the Funicular a few times, here it is coming into the station at the zoo.

There are two cars that appear to be connected by a cable. They go side by side halfway up the hill. As you can see, it would be a very fast trip should the cable break.

Now all you catholics have probably been waiting for a picture of Mary, so to not disappoint, here she is...

There are a lot of things on top of the hill including restaurants and a few shops and parks within the park. This is what it looks like when you get to the top on the road. Like the two guys on the right, I like to run on the clay path.

And just like everywhere else in the world, there are idiots as well...

Who would think riding your bike down a steep hill with two dogs on a busy road is a good idea? Well, okay, you are right...him!

This is the view from the north side of the hill. You can see the road that I run as it snakes around the hill on the way up.

I also found a 'real' trail that I plan to run in the next week or so. If you look at the right edge of the picture above you'll see a switchback and then more trail.

You may think some of the pictures are washed out. That is the famous winter time smog in Santiago. Actually, today is the first day I recall feeling any kid of breeze at all - and it was very light. At least from what I've seen, this part of the country wouldn't be a good place for a wind farm. Now down south is a different story...