Day 3: Santiago and much later in the trip

Day 3: Supposedly an art tour similar to the one here in (2018?) and dinner at Boca Nariz with SA and DA

Breakfast at the hotel (included) and then Covid tests all around, everyone negativo!! $50pp US (DB said if you only pay $35, you get a positvo test result, neagtivo is extra).

THB is tired of whining, so here is the super short view of the non-art tour. The guide originally scheduled cancelled yesterday and the guide who showed up this morning, Pablo,  was a disaster. He had no clue as to what we had requested, didn't listen, was having stomach problems, and THB and DB figured out we could have done the day on our own. A second refund coming? THB sure hopes so...and enough time spent on this "glitch." 

Now on to the great art day _ skipping a recap of the ridiculous city tour foisted on THB and DB by Pablo...now THB knows the salient fact that Santiago has a metro system with either 7 or 8 lines depending on whether you count line 4A as a separate line or not. Note from editor: STOP THAT...Boring!!!!

Finally, after demanding starting with Patricia Ready Gallery - where we visited 5 years ago and made a purchase (Livan Marin) - the person leading us around the gallery, Valentina (no, not that Milanese Valentina of Venice Biennale fame) is from Colombia and knows our Bogotan fruit market, haute couture and gold museum tour guide, Angelina. Not just knows her, she did Angelina's job before Angelina. Valentina's family (in Bogata, not Mila) runs the El Dorado gallery in Bogota (we almost bought an archival pic there) and she knows the two private collectors we visited as part of our Columbian tour in early December. 

Instant Karma, a full cleansing of the events of the morning. Pablo keeps throwing small glitches at us and we just bat them away. 

Valentina is terrific! Knowledgeable about all the artists, Chilean and Colombian, and very personable. We proceeded to buy several pieces and need to measure available space at the beach house for a piece that is perfect (and large) to join our "oceanfront" works there.

And, DB was asked to look at art made of with horse's hair (aka crin) ... the Ready Gallery had a large collection of this type of work, Donna contacted with the requestor in Monterey and sealed the deal! 

Off to another nearby gallery, then back to the Ready for an excellent lunch and completing the purchasing process and start the shipping process discussion, one last gallery visit, also nearby, and a return to the Singular and saying adios to Pablo. 

Of course, with access to a pc and i-pad,we start the e-mails to our local contact and our US based travel agency about getting a refund for the non-art tour. All time that could be spent blogging or napping. 

DA and SA treat us to dinner at Boca Nariz. THB and DB and two other couples ate here when on layover from our Easter Island trip 10 years ago. Not much has changed except a lot of people are now dining in their parklet (while being serenaded by a rotating cast of singers and dancers), so service is stretched a bit with the extra diners. Food is fine, the vibe is loud, and the number of wines to choose from stretches incredulity. 

Back to the hotel (after sensing we were being cased by a pickpocket) to find a lush layout of charcutier and a bottle of red wine. Just what THB needs: more food and alcohol! And the phone rings and the desk is checking on how we are feeling about the Singular, is there anything else he can help with. Yes, THB replies, please don't call back, he is hoping to be asleep soon. 

Book Review: The Tenth Island, Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores, Diana Marcum: THB inadvertently left this book off the 2022 Book List. A wonderful story of how researching the story of the Portuguese migration from the Azores to the California Central Valley led Marcum, a journalist, to follow the trail backwards to the Azores. Highly Recommended THB, if he remembers, will add to the 2023 Book List. 

Book Review: We Don’t Know Ourselves, A Personal History of Modern Ireland, Finan O’Toole: The author, a journalist, was born in Ireland in 1958. Most of the book covers the author’s life span and is an intimate  look at what is really a small island, analyzing the relationship between politicians that the Catholic church hierarchy. As always is the case in patriarchies, it doesn’t go well for women. Highly recommended even though it is a long read

Book Review: Fellowship Point**, Alice Elliiott Dark (audio, narrated by Cassandra Campbell): First the specs. This book is read very slowly and the elapsed time is 19 hours. THB almost gave up and then used a trick suggested by LB and sped up the narration to 1.2 times, which was closer to normal speech (and thus also shortened the book). That worked well. The story is also unusual, focused on the friendship of two women in three stages of life: childhood, their 40s and their 80s. Most of the plot deals with the well-known author of the two, and the property they (and three other families share on the Maine coast. In the middle of the book a tragedy/accident occurs and yet it is is hardly mentioned thereafter.  Recommended even though it is a long listen