I love bread. I know it is fattening but it is the food I would choose on the desert island question. Bread and PB with a Coke as my drink of choice. The South Americans need to learn to make bread. They have some interesting bun things but even those could use some work. Their croissants taste like a poor quality Wonder Bread. I thought maybe it was just the bread our first hotel served but after 3 weeks I don’t think I have had one piece of good bread.
Fries, french fries, on the other hand are great. I can take or leave fries at home but here they know how to cook potatoes. I read potatoes are a big part of the Bolivian diet and I have had many different kinds while here, all good. I think the french fries topped the list. They are crispy on the exterior and soft but not mushy on the inside. Mr. McCain should take a trip here and see how these folks do it.
Santiago
The wind has been calm and I think it does not help the situation but the air here is sure yellow. It is a very large city and the smog is not only visible but I come back to the hotel grimy every night.
I am really impressed with the traffic here. It is easy to understand and works much the same as Edmonton’s. Generally people abide by the law. A red light means stop. Yes drivers push the edge but only into the yellow not the red. They are good to pedestrians. They do not necessarily stop for us, although Debbie and I were waiting at a crosswalk today and a driver halted the car and let us walk. Maybe it was because we are gringos but I don’t think so. When a walk light shows green all of the drivers respect it. Not one car has tried to run us down when we were crossing on the proper signal. When the walk signal is red the peds wait, they will cross if it is clear but they know the cars will not stop and they hustle if they have to.
Our touring today involves the underground, metro here. It is a single ticket purchase gig. Walk up to the window buy a single ride and off we go. You can of course use a pass but we didn’t need one. We step into the crowded train and zoom. What we notice is the speed of the train. I am not sure but I don’t think I have been on a tram that moves that fast between stations and it was super smooth, no clickity, clack of the tracks.
The highlight of the day is the Centro Cultural Pueblito Los Dominicos. A mercado at the end to the subway line. It is one of the best artisan markets I think I have visited. Most of the stuff was truly hand done, in fact a lot of the shops were also the artists workshops, you could see the stuff being produced. I saw none of the “made in China sold everywhere in the world” trinkets.
We head home tomorrow and although I am not likely to get the Edmonton cabbie to stop off so I can get a beaver tail or 2 of naan bread at our local shop down the street, I will be looking forward to the first PB sandwich I will construct when we get there.