Last log for South America.
I’ve been back for a week or two, finally filling in the last gaps: Chile and my final days in Buenos Aires.
After we left Cusco, we spent a layover day in Lima—bumming around Miraflores, an upscale neighborhood by the ocean (looked like a nice beach break, but dirty water). From there we took a brutal overnight flight to Santiago, rented a car and headed to the coast. My friends Evo and Lulu (artists I know from Venice Beach) invited us to their spot by the ocean north of Viña del Mar. We arrived and proceeded to eat delicious sea food and drink white wine day and night for 2 days. We swam around, explored tide pools, and generally enjoyed civilized living after being on the trail.
From there we spent a day in Valparaiso. Picture San Francisco if the gold rush had not happened—an important port, but not as developed.. lots of Victorian architecture, but not the Big City vibe. Hills dominate all around, quirky streets wind throughout. Colorful buildings are all dotted with grafiti—but amazing graffiti, which could only be the work of the local art students. I also fell in love with some of the rough and tumble architecture of the port bars.. one could picture sailors stumbling in on leave.
On our way to Santiago we passed through wine country for a tasting.. it looked just like Santa Barbara. Exactly. Maybe Napa. And the wine was great.
We hit Santiago at night time, and we headed to the flat of a friend of Evo’s. The wrap around balcony overlooked the fine arts museum, and we chilled there drinking and partying the night away. The city has a mix of European influence and chaos. I did not explore enough to really report on the vibe of the town, though we had a fantastic time with this crew of Chileans and other foreigners- talking of all things through the night. A late night danceclub, and an early morning panic over a missing bag rounded out the trip.
Back in Buenos Aires, Chris and I checked into a boutique hotel in San Telmo (a more bohemian, older barrio) and we really enjoyed it there. More dancing filled our time, as well as a River Plate soccer match. The soccer game was a big deal—River and Boca Juniors are the two big soccer clubs in Argentina, and the world for that matter. We missed seeing this rivalry, we just saw River and Gimnasia. Apparently a River/ Boca match is maybe the biggest rivalry in all of sports, if one can make such a comparison. Just seeing the River fans was awesome- non stop chants and songs for the whole time. They actually lost, which sobered the crowd at the end, but it was still one for the books. Our seats were really good, and it felt very safe in our section.
I have many ideas for paintings from this trip—but at this time I’d rather work than talk about them. Images will come about soon enough..
Kenny Harris
Venice, CA
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