La Ballena – Santiago, Chile
The headline? Well, it’s Diana’s birthday.
She’s popular down here, of course. But still, it’s not quite the same. No fancy birthday cake. No party. No breakfast in bed.
Her best option? Hang around with me all day . . .
So, yeah. Would be great to hear some birthday greetings from the minions . . . (That’s all of you . . .)
I guess kind of apropos for Diana’s big day, we basically followed the yellow brick road to get here. Except the road wasn’t paved with bricks – yellow onions instead. Or maybe it was more like Hansel and Gretel – with the onions replacing the breadcrumbs in the Chilean version of the fairy tale. After all, there really is no good bread in this part of the world. But onions – there seems to be quite an abundance. Seriously, we’re always seeing truck loads of onions driving around. And, probably, if Hansel and Gretel really wanted to return home onions seem like a better bet anyway. It’s not like some bird’s going to eat them all . . .
We arrived in the emerald city of Santiago yesterday and we’re loving this town. Super walkable and bikeable. No crazy traffic. No horns honking constantly. Clean. Nice. Lots of parks. It doesn’t even really seem like a Latin American city at all. There’s not even good street food (I guess you have to take the good with the bad).
Kind of amazing how far Chile has come in a short period of time. We went to a human rights museum today. It was a little difficult to wade through the Spanish, but it told the story of the dictator Augusto Pinochet coming to power – and detailed the torture and killing that his regime inflicted on the country and its people.
That story is a little more real for us than it otherwise might be. Our friend Maria – of Gunnar and Maria in Little Rock fame – told us that her family fled the country in 1976. Maria was about five years old at the time and her dad was a chemistry professor. I guess the fact that he was educated made him suspect? I don’t know. Sad.
And with echoes of what happened to Diana’s family; they fled the Communists in China some thirty years earlier. I guess all these totalitarian governments are bad . . . (Hopefully we manage to avoid sinking that far down in these next few years . . .)
Anyway, Pinochet was in power from 1973 to 1990. There was a referendum in 1988, which Pinochet lost, and after that the country transitioned back to democracy.
Now Chile is one of the most economically successful countries in Latin America. It has a stable democracy, with an economy that has a big focus on copper mining, and agricultural products like blueberries and apples. (I’m guessing they grow blueberries and apples south of Santiago – in the lake country of Chile – where we’re heading. Considering that I love these fruits I’m pretty excited about this next phase of our adventure.)
Interestingly, Chile’s major trading partner is China. I think they sell their copper mostly in that direction. And you can see the Chinese influence around town. Many of the cars and trucks appear to come from China. And there are big Chinese-product malls around.
Now, to me it seems like we would want to make friends down here and try to be a bigger trading partner with a place like Chile – a place with a stable democracy and values that seem in line with what I thought we valued as a country. But maybe I no longer understand what we value . . . In any case, making friends with places like Chile doesn’t seem to be our current trajectory; instead we seem to be pushing the world away.
Okay, there I go. Wandering into the brambles of politics . . .
Let me get back to the real topic at hand and tell a little story related to the relevant birthday and our current host city. The kind of little things that let you know that you’re in a whole different part of the world . ..
I was supposed to make Diana chicken curry for dinner tonight. We bought all the vegetables – except for onion; we already had procured onion along the road on the way here
– at the big marketplace; that was fun. But then when we tried to find the last few ingredients we were stymied.
No curry powder.
The spices guy at the marketplace didn’t have any.
And the grocery store definitely didn’t have any.
Hard to make curry without curry powder. I mean, it can be done. But then you need a laundry list of spices – turmeric, cumin, mustard, fennel seeds, cloves, etc. But they didn’t have any of those either – and even if they did I wasn’t going to spend $70 on spices to make one dish. Even if it was Diana’s birthday.
We pivoted to stir fry. I went to the meat counter and requested flank steak – filete de flanco de res – but when they asked what part “flanco” was I gave up . . . More pollo. Always pollo . . .
It was good . . . And we had some vegetable matter. So that was really good, and scored me some points with my wife . . .
And then we did something really big and bold. We went to a movie. A real movie theater movie. First movie since at least last August.
I guess they show most movies in Chile in their original language – with Spanish subtitles. Perfect for us. Maybe we could even learn a little more Spanish by following along with the Espanol.
Except for one thing . . . Something we didn’t really count on . . .
The movie we went to – Añora – is an American movie alright – but there are substantial portions of the movie in Russian. Which would be fine . . . if we were seeing the movie in America – where the subtitles would be in English. Here in Santiago all the subtitles are, of course, in Spanish.
It was even a little more complicated for me. You see, I took some Russian in high school. So I know a few words. But, like German, which I also took in high school, I’m horrible at Russian.
So now I’m sitting there trying to hear a word or two I might know in Russian – and then checking that against the Spanish subtitles – another language that I’m pathetic at. It was an exercise in confusion. I’m really not sure I understood a full third of the movie at all . . . For all I know it was really a Wizard of Oz movie: kind of a modern re-make of Wicked about an alluring witch – not a sex worker marrying the son of a Russian oligarch . . .
Still, it was super fun to go to a movie theater. There was no popcorn. But if you want bargain movies just come to Chile – only $4 for each of us.
One more day in the big city – and then we start pedaling toward the penguins in the south . . . Well, first we’ll try closing our eyes, tapping our heels together, and wishing we were in Patagonia. But if that doesn’t work, then for sure we’ll pedal.
And don’t forget to leave a birthday greeting.
Adios Amigos!
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Happy Birthday Diana😊
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Happy Birthday Diana!!
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¡Feliz Cumpleaños a Diana! This is one you’ll never forget! A good six inches of snow that fell the other day is melting fast, which means summer’s coming to an end for you and John. You’re almost there. Carry on! I’m glad for you!
Keelin
🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂
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Happy, Happy Birthday Diana! We hope you have a wonderful day!
Much Love, Sally & Will
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Happy Birthday, Diana! I hope you find some good sweets today!! Sarah Page
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Happy Birthday Diana! Enjoy following your adventures! I was there at the time of Pinochet’s coup. 13 years old on a tour with my parents. We landed just as it occurred and there were tanks and soldiers with machine guns in the streets. Complete curfew. They let us stay the night and were flown out the next day. A crazy memory.
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Happy Birthday, Diana! What an adventure you two are on. Plenty of beauty to see in Chile!
Ed Ryan
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Feliz Cumpleanos, Diana. -Eileen ZH, de Duluth.
Manana salimos para Montevideo, Uruguay.
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Diana-
Happy Birthday to the most bad ass woman I know. I love your sense of adventure and your caring heart. I miss you dearly! Enjoy your birthday in Chili! Maybe John will surprise you and twirl you around above his shoulders like the Chilean men dancers!
John- You are such a talented writer! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure stories!
Kim Rudd
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Happy Birthday Diana!
Susan and I have been following you two on your trip. Amazing adventures. We love it.
Nate Tollefson
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Happy birthday to Diana! I am learning she is one bad ass woman!!
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Happy birthday Diana! Have a wonderful day. Doug
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Happy birthday Diana!!!
I think French (Spanish?) onion soup should be your first dinner course. What an awesome adventure you two are having. Imagine doing your ride before gps technology. Thanks for sharing your travel blog. 🚴♀️
Diana Budde
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Happy happy birthday to Diana We love following your story but miss you dearly🥳🥳🥳🥳Ghita
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
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Happy Birthday Diana! We follow your journey every day.
Rock and Jane
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Happy Diana! Missed having you pass me at COL!
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Happy birthday Diana! I’m loving this blog and following along on your trip vicariously, Best wishes, Patty in Portland (friend of Mark R.)
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Good to hear from you Patty. Glad you’re enjoying the blog!
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The declared ‘No Curry Emergency’ should have allowed you to activate the ‘Call A Friend’ act. We would have sent you to a Peruvian Restaurant with absolutely delicious dishes. It would also have filled in some of the experiences you missed during the wormhole jump while in Peru.
Bread: From my experience, the most delicious bread in Chile is usually home-baked.
Enjoy Blueberry Road.
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Thanks Gunnar! We don’t want to abuse our phone a friend privileges… 😁😁
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Happy Birthday, Diana!
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Happy birthday Diana!! Glad to hear that Santiago is to your liking!
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Thanks Constance! Loving it here!
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Happy birthday Diana! Sorry you haven’t been happy with the bread there. It’s mostly the white variety. I do love the empanada chilena de pino though – baked and not fried! And manjar (dulce de leche) is an awesome jolt of sugar when you need it. Hope you make it down to Punta Arenas before it gets too cold. It’s so beautiful down there!
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We’re working on it. And Diana loves the pino empanada s as well!
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Happy B-day to Diana-sounds like you guys had a great day!
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Happy belated, Diana. I never saw cake and ice cream mentioned. Sounds like you’ve got that coming…..
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Happy Birthday, Diana! Enjoy your day and travels!
(your non-minion friend) Steve
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Thanks Steve!!! Appreciate it!
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Feliz Cumpleaños Diane, the most bad ass woman I know, this will be a birthday you always will remember!
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Happy Birthday, Diana!!!
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Happy, happy birthday, Dr. Liu!! And all the best for many, many more. What a place to celebrate … I love reading John’s blog and am amazed at your adventures! Keep it up; stay safe.
Terry
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Thanks Terry! Diana is missed you!!
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happiest birthday Diana! When you return, come over and I’ll bake you a belated cake! 🎂 Jules
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😁😁😁
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Happy Birthday, Diana.
-Torry
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Thanks Torry. Good to hear from you!
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Happy, happy birthday, Dr Liu, and continued adventurous traveling. I follow John’s blog religiously and it brings back many memories. Cap and I have been in SA twice, from th Atacama desert to Punta Arenas. If you stop in Puerto Monte you will find a German bakery for a belated piece of birthday cake, maybe even Mohnkuchen (If not I will bake you one when you are home again). The city was founded by German settlers and the influence is still very noticeable.
Thank you for sharing your adventures every day.
Marie-Luise
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Thanks Marie-Luise! Diana misses your mohn cake and you too!!!
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Happy (belated) Birthday, Diana! I really enjoy continuing to read your & John’s progress, as you keep moving south throughout South America. XC Ski season is nearly complete here, as the warmer spring temperatures have moved in. Overall, though, still a good ski season with just enough snow to hold most of the races. I just got back this past weekend from the UP, where I did the Great Bear Chase for the first time. Fun race. We also went to Italy in January for the 70K Marcialonga.
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Happy Birthday Diana!!! Don’t let John make the cake…. 😉
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Hanging on skiing here. Got 2 feet of snow last week when got back from Sweden but got two days of 50’s and 60’s the past two days. Melted some but still got a couple of weeks left. Loving it!! Hard to believe but almost a year since our trip together in Bentonville last spring. Planning similar trip this year. Love your trip and enjoy the next stretch!!
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One more comment. If get a chance with some good internet, check out the women’s 50K race from Sunday. Brutal conditions. Replace the Norwegian flags with Trump flags and reminds me of John’s trail of tears from Duluth to the cabin….
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Spring arrived in AR and MTB and gravel trails are fabulous.
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muy feliz cumpleaños Diana!!
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