La Serena, Templo San Agustin.

Oh, the lights went out on Mary

her flashing haloed crown

from pulse to chase to strobe

faintly blue white hue

she is number III

in the stations of the cross

or something like that

Jesus is at a stained glass window

a flag modestly girds his loins

i'm sure the red stained glass

is a velvet superhero cape

                                                                                    the donation locked boxes

                                                                                    are nailed hopefully

 to the walls

                                                                                    tithes to your favourite saint

                                                                                    i decide i like San Agustin

                                                                                    because he was a writer

                                                                                    it said so on his window

                                                                                    Mary and baby Jesus are

                                                                                    glowing red yellow and blue

                                                                                    with pagan snakes 

at their feet

                                                                                    and at the entrance

                                                                                    a man rattles hopefully
his collection of pesos

                                                                                    in an orange plastic cup

                                                                                    

La Serena.
Outdoor art exhibition i had a peruse around on my way to La Playa (the beach) and the lighthouse.
Colour was a big feature in the works on display, but it's not difficult to see where they get their inspiration from. I'm totally in love with all the shades of the rainbow the houses are painted inside and out.
The exhibition featured children's work alongside the adults. It was a nice mix.
Pick of the Hostels was 'Hostel Maria Casa' with Andreas and his partner Lesley. He didn't seem to mind that i got off the bus at 1.30am and no accommodation booked.....it's hard to mime on the telephone. but, por favor, tiene un habitation para tres noches?

La Serena. Museo Arqueologico.
And this little Moai stayed at home.Well, sort of. From Rapa Nui -or the Easter Islands, this one went on a little adventure too. Tiki toured to France, Spain and Italy in the 1950's on an intrepid journey across the seas before getting a little bit, oops, accidentally broken. Restored to life in the mid ninety's, its now part of an interesting collection of objects and artifacts (including a couple of Atacama mummies) housed in this museum.
Insider info...a lot of museums and galleries are free on Sundays.

La Serena. Chile.

On the beach,about eight hours north of Santiago,mi, in front of the old lighthouse. It is Chiles second oldest city, founded in 1544 and has a church on just about every corner.

Some amazing architecture in this place and fabulous museums, not to mention the loco fruit and vegetable market. plucked up the courage amongst the masses to haltingly buy avocados, tomatoes, spinach and  

              other vegetarian type yummy goodies.

              Mmmm mangos!

Postcard from Valparaiso

One of my favourite
coloured houses that
i could live in, dreaming,
as i walk around the
streets of Valparaiso.
i would hate to be a
linesman here, the tangle
and cluster of wires is
nothing but diabolical.

Entrance to Pablo Neruda's casa 'La Sebastiana'

Oda a la Neruda...
i love your crazy houses
the stripped walls
the riotous colours
your views out to sea
your eagles eye to
the sky the hills the houses
of Valparaiso
i love the way you sail
your ship through the neighborhood
you, Pablo, the non swimmer
who collects the ocean
the sun
through portals and windows
curious objects and
                                                                weird pink taxiderm-ied birds
                                                                coloured glass bottles
                                                                and naps in the sun
                                                                and i talk pigeon spanish
                                                                with Manuels pigeon english
                                                                the gardener
                                                                at your place

Santiago.
La Chascona
One of Pablo Neruda s three homes.
Houses an eclectic mix of curiosities that he collected in his lifetime as both a poet and a diplomat in far flung countries.
It is a twisting and turning home that seems to have no rhyme or reason, with bits added on and painted in a myriad of colours that all match perfectly.
With a garden to match. I saw a hummingbird drinking with its
 straw like beak.

Valparaiso.
La Sebastiana.
Neruda's second home that looks out over the hills and port
of Valparaiso. Lots of little nooks for the poet to gaze out with
his binoculars, check out the ships and snooze in the sun.
Perfecto!

El perro.
Valparaiso.
On one of the footpaths on a busy avenue by the bus station.
Getting in a good sleep during the warmth of the day.

Santiago
View from the hill at Parque Metropolitiano.
This is only a small eye watering slice of the vista that is Santiago.
Only when you get up here, alongside the gigantic statue of the Virgin Mary do you get a handle on the sheer size of the city and the gasping atmosphere.

Santiago. a poster beside one of the bridges leading to the Bella Vista barrio (neighborhood)
A thousand words eh.....
We also need some monetary system type posters/ images to go along with the armory ideology.
I'm sure they are out there, i just haven't spotted them on my walks with my trusty little camera.
The tagging is a lot more political and interesting that what you see around NZ.
But then we haven't had to deal with some horrendous governments. Yet.

Santiago. 
An amazing example of some of the street art around the Barrio(neighborhood) Bella Vista. 
I spent and afternoon wandering around the fruit and vegetable market, before heading back to the Hostel via the labyrinthine streets photographing some fabulous murals.
This was one of my favorite images.
I'm presuming it was done with spray cans, but no-one was around for me to ask.

WoooHoooo!!!! First pic.took forever to load...think it has something to do with the file size. any hints from my tech-ie mates?
This is the pictorially famous Valparaiso house.  Perched on the side of a cliff like a nightmare. The rectangular type object with the sun rays painted on it is one of many Ascensors that climb the steep hills of this World Heritage city.
The city is mad crazy colourful cool.
There are no trendy browns, shades of bloody browns here.
Streets full of houses painted in every colour imaginable.
A hot burned orange, lime green, a vincent type yellow, lavender and sky blues. Unashamedly Colour!
The picture does not capture the sounds and smells. Cars and micro buseswith blaring horns, people hawking goods on the streets, exhaust fumes and ancient drains.
It hummms.  

Hola mi amigas y amigos! after some technical glitches, like forgetting my password and the instrucciones in espanol....and we all know at this stage, me espanol es lamentablamente, i think i'm online and tech-ied up.
thanks to Bob sending HELP to google in English for me. now all i have to do is learn how to Skype...
i have been in Santiago for four days now and am in full sensory overload.

A free walking tour around Santiago was fabulous,and am 2cm shorter now.our guide Phillipe was informative, comedic and perfectly left of center. lots of political asides.we started of in the Plaza de Armas and i asked if he knew of the man selling Frases Immortales (immortal phrases), was he still around, i needed to buy some...he wasn't sure what i was on about (found in a book published in 2002), but he did seem to think a man was hauled off a year or so ago cos he was selling all sorts of weird writings etc. doesn't sound like the man, el hombre i was looking for....

Santiago is a curious, amazing and overwhelming place. covered in a thick brown blanket of smog, kinda like a two pack a day habit. went up to San Cristobel hill yesterday where there is the giant statue of the Virgin of Immaculate Conception, the Mother of Santiago. the air was so thick, could she breath she would've choked on it.

I went walking to the vegetable markets yesterday. am heartbroken by the poverty also evident in this city, only half a kilometre away from the S UV's and affluent neighborhoods, people who look like they have done a lifetime of work in a day, others sleeping in the sun in parks. hundreds of street dogs roaming the city's footpaths and parks. an emaciated black dog in a cardboard box, a one eyed dog napping in the sun, the limping dog with an old broken leg.
 
Today i did the artista cultura stuff. it seems like i have to bring out another Alice, the one that leaves the memory of yesterday behind to visit these places. the Bella Artes museum, Mavi, a contemporary arts museum as well as a collectivo of contemporary artists with a gallery/work space in the hood near the hostel. i have statue back and squinty eyes. 

Am off to Valparaiso tomorrow and am looking forward to the sea and fresher air, i will leave the rest of Santiago for my return.