How I spent my trip to Chile

I spent my recent trip to Chile at work in a maintenance shop in an open pit mine. My work can send me almost anyplace on the planet. There is the possibility of ending up in Greece, Croatia, or Guinea. There is also equal likelihood of ending up in a very small town in Illinois or Minnesota. Some of our trip itineraries look like the the doted-line-on-a-map montage from an adventure film. However once we end up where we are going, work is work, and a shop is a shop and there is little time to sightsee.

My trip to Chile was typical, with a total of forty-fife minutes of free time in La Serena, a popular beach resort. However I took a lot of pictures, enough to gain the moniker "paparazzi" from the local guys we were working with. I tried to take pictures of everything I ate, at the request of Mr. Smith, however the formality of working lunches and business meetings made this difficult. I did however eat very well, and got to sample a lot of typical local food. Pastel de choclo, Pisco Sours, and Cazuela de pollo (left) made this trip very comfortable.

My hotel was across the street from Iglesia Santo Domingo, a great looking church and a popular destination. My room overlooked a palm tree and a pool. Very nice indeed.

I wish I got a picture of the LAN airlines stewardesses. Changing planes in Miami, I watched ten air hostesses go through security together. The LAN airlines outfit has retro red skirts and neckerchiefs. The temporal displacement of travel and timezones made the sight very surreal, as if they were getting ready to board in 1962.

It was a good trip over all, despite the long hours and short-notice inconvenience.

[Chile Trip Photo set on Flickr]