Journeyman Dan
 Culture, Jazz, Colo-Colo and Sandalias Thursday Rienk, our new roomie Dave (an Aussie, who talked a great deal - lots of nervous energy) and I decided on a bit more culture and headed for the Museum Chileno De Arte Precolombino, purely because the guide book had said that if we had been pressed for time that this was the one we should definitely see and boy, was it worth it. Unfortunately they had a strict no cameras policy and many guards (so no sneaky ones), but it explained how all the cultures around the Americas came to be, which regions they lived, their particular habits, customs and in some cases what caused them to cease to exist. All these exhibits were presented with artifacts from each tribe, most of it from semi-precious metals and carved with a skill that is possibly a lost art-form in today`s world. After a relaxing afternoon back at the hostel and another huge steak (this one a huge 500g beast - looked like a brick of meat) from the Fat Cow, a few of us decided to find a jazz club that I had heard about from the tourist office. Caught a cab downtown and after using a bit of Spanglish with the locals, found Club De Jazz De Santiago. I had been told not to bring my camera as of the reputation of the area, but I have a picture on my phone camera if ever anyone is interested. Only open on Thurs, Fri and Sat the club has a growing reputation and Fri and Sat invites acts from around the country and neighbouring Argentina to play. Thursday night is soley for the four-piece house band comprising of a saxaphonist, drummer, bass guitar and rhythym guitar players. The atmosphere was great and exactly what you might come to expect of a jazz club. Dark and smokey with fast beats and lots of hard playing, it was very enjoyable with the drummer being an exceptional highlight. Seemed to constantly let the music just take him away and you could see the other members pleading with him for a bit of restraint, thankfully he was having none of it. Friday Had one mission today and one mission only - buy tickets for the Colo-Colo game tomorrow. Being the most popular team in Santiago (most likely Chile) we were advised to procure tickets before the game in the event of a sell-out. The very kind lady behind the hostel desk told us where to go for the stadium and off we went, Dave, Alan (an fellow Brit) and my good self. Too far to walk, the obvious method of transportation was the metro. As this had been previously mastered it was easy to negotiate a return ticket to our required destination. So far, so good. As we approached our station we could see the floodlights for the stadium and a huge tower with the team`s sponsor, Cristal, above a giant green and white football. Alan and I both needed to get some money out for the tickets so we headed to the largest mall we had seen since coming to South America. Nearly as big as the Trafford Centre in Manchester (for those of you who have seen that monstrosity). Out of the mall and with no visible entrance, signs to show us the way, or people to ask in our slightly-less-than-feeble espaņol we were left with 2 choices, left or right. Hmmm. Flip a coin time. When the best of two out of three says go left, that`s what you do. After five minutes walking a helpful lady told us that she wasn`t 100% but she believed we were going the wrong way. Fair enough, never ones to turn down a lady`s advice we dutifully turned around and made our way back around the stadium. Forty-five minutes later and still walking in the heat of the blazing sun (26 C) it became apparent that sometimes the above unwritten law should be ignored. We ended up walking all around not only the stadium itself but the adjoining training pitches and areas where they grow fresh lawn for the pitch. Silly to turn back we kept on walking. Eventually we came to a road leading into the stadium. Not brick or yellow we decided to follow it anyway.
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Diary Photos
| 16th Mar 2007 | |
| Outside Estadio Monumental - The Home Of Colo-Colo | |
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