February 8
Editor’s note: This missive has been delayed for reasons of extended recovery periods from the ravages of international travel . . .
I think the cruise industry has come of age. And older people my age are attracted to the cruise ship industry. And they are booming right now, and all over the world they are booming. And I think they’re for the golden oldies, and there are more and more of them around. ~ Julian Robertson
Mining created Chile. The story of men who go down into the mountain and chip away at minerals in the darkness and then suffer an accident that leaves them at the mercy of that darkness is part of the DNA of Chile, an integral part of the country’s history. ~ Ariel Dorfman
December 22
When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was Balkanized. We were isolated. We didn’t know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador, Colombia and Chile. Nowadays, this has changed a lot – fortunately for writers and readers. There is much more integration. ~ Mario Vargas Llosa
[A view from our window to the courtyard below . . . ]
Chile could work as a double for L.A.; it’s very production-friendly and there’s terrific talent down there. ~ Eli Roth
[Using the windows perpendicular to our room as a mirror on the world . . . ]
If a country like Chile can fix its social security system, there is no reason a country as great as the United States… can’t fix our Social Security system. ~ Bill Flores
[This was a day to roam the city of Santiago unattended and unsupervised. We opted for the hop on/hop off bus located 1/2 mile away from our hotel on Av Presidente Kennedy . . . ]
Only two countries in this hemisphere are not democratic, but many countries in both Central and South America, and in the Caribbean, are really fragile democracies. ~ Warren Christopher
[Said hop on/hop off bus . . . ]
When we say Afro American, we include everyone in the Western Hemisphere of African descent. South America is America. Central America is America. South America has many people in it of African descent. ~ Malcolm X
[Why yes, there are mountains here – the Chilean Coastal Range runs parallel to the Andes . . . ]
When Harvard University opened its doors in 1636, there were already well-established universities in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. ~ Oscar Arias
[Costanera Tower, the tallest building in Latin America at 300 meters, will be featured often in this post . . . ]
I’ve never been in any country for more than four years, and I’m learning different languages all the time. It gives you a different attitude. ~ Santiago Cabrera
Latin America is not that different from the rest of the world. Some of us have been trying to get from the edges into the centre, but we’re very few. The world is still very resistant to understanding the diversity of human beings. ~ Daniela Vega
[Plaza de Armas decorated for the summer Christmas season . . . ]
There’s nowhere like home for me, but there has been something so interesting about most of the places I’ve visited. One that sticks out in my mind is traveling around South America. It’s a huge continent, and I only got to see a small portion of it, but I’ve always liked going there. ~ Brittany Bowe
[Don Pedro de Valdivia, the guy on the horse, in the Plaza de Armas De San Fernando, and the Metropolitan Cathedral on the right . . . ]
I can promise you that women working together – linked, informed and educated – can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet. ~ Isabel Allende
[The Metropolitan Cathedral . . . ]
Birds born in cages think that flying is a disease. ~ Alejandro Jodorowsky
[Despite all security measures, there appears to be a missing person here . . . ]
I think in South America people are very, uh, they have no inhibitions and wear their hearts on their sleeves – what’s the word? They’re very expressive, demonstrative. ~ Bernard Sumner
The only continent where social movements have led to political parties that have pushed through serious social and political reforms is in South America. ~ Tariq Ali
Two prominent terms, ‘Latino’ and ‘Hispanic,’ refer to people living in the United States who have roots in Latin America, Spain, Mexico, South America, or Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. ~ Ilan Stavans
[Palacio de La Moneda, or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General Secretariat of the Government . . . ]
Latin American Art is an operational term used to describe art actually made in the more than twenty countries that make up Latin America and that encompass Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. ~ Mari Carmen Ramirez
[I have reason to suspect the nutcrackers are appendages of the season . . . ]
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. ~ Andrew Jackson
I realize that humor isn’t for everyone. It’s only for people who want to have fun, enjoy life, and feel alive. ~ Anne Wilson Schaef
[I liked the fire escape . . . ]
I don’t really watch what I eat. I love sitting around with friends and eating loads and drinking loads for hours. Maybe when I’m 40 I’ll worry about my diet. ~ Santiago Cabrera
[Street scene . . . ]
When people refer to ‘Back in the Day,’ it was a Wednesday. Just a little fun fact for you. ~ Dane Cook
You can be childlike without being childish. A child always wants to have fun. Ask yourself, ‘Am I having fun?’ ~ Christopher Meloni
[Central Post Office Building . . . ]
The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that’s what’s happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal. ~ Michelle Obama
[Santa Lucía Hill (Spanish: Cerro Santa Lucía), also known in Mapuche as Huelén Hill, is a small hill in the centre of Santiago. An adjacent metro station is named after it. The hill has an altitude of 629 m and a height of 69 m over the surrounding area. The hill is the remnant of a volcano 15 million years old. The hill comprises a 65,300 square metre park adorned with ornate facades, stairways and fountains. At the highest point there is a viewpoint popular with tourists visiting the city and meeting point. (Wikipedia)]
When you start recognising that you’re having fun, life can be delightful. ~ Jane Birkin
Dreams don’t have deadlines. I’m thinking of doing bigger and better things and having more fun with it. ~ LL Cool J
[A big brown building, a/k/a, Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center . . . ]
Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin
[Approaching Sky Costanera . . . ]
You must enjoy the journey because whether or not you get there, you must have fun on the way. ~ Kalpana Chawla
[The Super getting tickets for the elevator ride (one minute) to Sky Costanera . . . ]
We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
[The view, the view . . . ]
Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. ~ David Mamet
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. ~ Maya Angelou
[Sky Costanera, on the 61st and 62 floor of Costanera Tower . . . ]
Old and young, we are all on our last cruise. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
[Reeking of American tourists . . . ]
I had a pretty modest upbringing; it was no pleasure cruise. ~ Vanilla Ice
Violence is one of the most fun things to watch. ~ Quentin Tarantino
[Our personal photographer . . . ]
It didn’t get any more glamorous than Havana, Cuba, in the 1950s. I used to go there when I was a waiter on a cruise ship. ~ Sino Maccioni
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind. ~ Taylor Swift
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. ~ Dalai Lama
We do not remember days, we remember moments. ~ Cesare Pavese
I spend six months of the year on cruises. Travelling the world with your mates, it’s such good fun and I hope that comes across. ~ Jane McDonald
I found out retirement means playing golf, or I don’t know what the hell it means. But to me, retirement means doing what you have fun doing. ~ Dick Van Dyke
A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous. ~ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
The skyscraper establishes the block, the block creates the street, the street offers itself to man. ~ Roland Barthes
What I like about cities is that everything is king size, the beauty and the ugliness. ~ Joseph Brodsky
The skyscraper style first advocated by Louis Sullivan – a tower of strongly vertical character with clear definitions among base, shaft, and crown – has remained remarkably consistent throughout the history of this building type. ~ Martin Filler
I’ve searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
[Continuing the “loop” – the hop on/hop off bus was a two-hour, 12-stop tour of the city. We circled twice hoping the funicular might open on the second pass. It didn’t . . . ]
A culture, we all know, is made by its cities. ~ Derek Walcott
[Headquarters for the hop on/hop off bus, basically an enlarged telephone booth . . . ]
The land created me. I’m wild and lonesome. Even as I travel the cities, I’m more at home in the vacant lots. ~ Bob Dylan
[Appears to be a Lady Bird Johnson-like attempt at urban beautification, i.e., climate induced drought has required the use of attached water bags for new plantings . . . ]
I think there will be a 200-story skyscraper someday. However, it will require a developer who will not think in conventional terms and for whom economic restraints won’t apply. ~ Helmut Jahn
Doing a house is so much harder than doing a skyscraper. ~ Philip Johnson
The one thing that all great cities have in common is that they are all different. ~ Cate Blanchett
[The funicular to the hilltop was closed because of wildfire hazards. (As I type this on February 6, there have been fatal and destructive wildfires in this area.)]
There are certain romances that belong in certain cities, in a certain atmosphere, in a certain time. ~ Sammy Davis, Jr.
[Mapocho River through the city . . . ]
You probably don’t need more weapons than what’s required to destroy every city on earth. There’s only 2,300 cities. So, the United States, by that criteria, only needs 2,300 nuclear weapons – well, we’ve got more than 25,000! ~ Carl Sagan
[Street scene . . . ]
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
[Academia Diplomática Andrés Bello of Chile is the institution responsible for training Chile’s future diplomats and has also contributed to the preparation of diplomats from South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It is one of the oldest Academy on the American continent. (Wikipedia)]
Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends. ~ Lewis Mumford
If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods. And to do that, we must understand that the quality of life is more important than the standard of living. ~ Harvey Milk
But geography, if used correctly, can be used to redesign sustainable and more livable cities. ~ Jack Dangermond
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the challenges facing our cities or to the housing crisis, but the two issues need to be considered together. From an urban design and planning point of view, the well-connected open city is a powerful paradigm and an engine for integration and inclusivity. ~ Richard Rogers
I would like to use architecture to create bonds between people who live in cities, and even use it to recover the communities that used to exist in every single city. ~ Toyo Ito
I have never felt salvation in nature. I love cities above all. ~ Michelangelo
[Clock tower of the San Francisco Church . . . ]
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. ~ Bertrand Russell
[Pontifical Catholic University of Chile . . . ]
I have my own boat, but when I first thought about taking a cruise, I thought, ‘You’re going to trap me on a boat, and I’m going to walk in circles and go crazy,’ but it’s awesome. ~ Guy Fieri
[Known, amazingly, as the yellow spiral sculpture in the central business district of Santiago . . . ]
I tell anyone who will listen to me: On a cruise, you can be with all these people, or you can be by yourself. You can find tranquility, you can find party, you can find new friends. I’m a cruise convert. ~ Guy Fieri
Since the 1920s, when some U.S. cruise ships decided to fly a Panamanian flag to avoid Prohibition regulations, ships have commonly flown the flag of countries foreign to their owners. The benefits are obvious: lower taxes, laxer labor and safety laws. ~ Rose George
I would not want to be on a cruise ship. Some ferry crossings I’m not too thrilled about. ~ Jennifer Connelly
[I really have no idea . . . ]
I don’t believe in nudity for nudity’s sake, but it’s really beautiful when it’s done well, when it’s within a story. I’m very comfortable with my body. I grew up mostly in France, where nudity is not taboo. ~ Leonor Varela
[Tourists on a bus . . . ]
A bigger business is like a cruise ship: There are lots of amenities and you can go a lot further, but it’s harder to turn quickly. ~ Tony Hsieh
[Our Marriott . . . ]
Broke my femur on a cruise with my wife in Italy. I’d walked back to my cabin after dinner with half a plate of spaghetti when I leaned in to open the door. Turns out it was already open, so I fell flat on my face like something from the Keystone Kops. ~ Art Donovan
[Our Marriott . . . ]
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. ~ Bertrand Russell
[Our Marriott, placing an unnatural significance on our hotel . . . ]
Someone asked how I feel about Captain Crunch. I’m capable of eating an entire box of it without any milk. It is a sweet taste that is indescribable. Captain Crunch is its own flavour. ~ Pedro Pascal
[Does anyone see any significance in this?]
The idea of elegance and aristocratic indulgence of an ocean cruise was born out of the image of the rich men and women who ruled the British Empire slowly sailing to India and the Far East while sipping gin and tonic on deck – served by men in white jackets. ~ Adam Curtis
[The hotel interior court in the background (see first pic in this post) . . . ]
I’ve never been on a cruise. ~ Philip Seymour Hoffman
I don’t like cruises. Period. My biggest nightmare is being stuck on a boat. ~ Joe Flanigan
[Bottled water from Tuscany?]
I’ll be 65 in September and I work as much as I want to, take cruises with Kay, relax with my family, do everything in moderation, because I want to enjoy my life. ~ Frankie Avalon
[After a long day of touristing, Little Ole was ready to chow down. Say “good night,” Ruthie . . . ]
Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued. ~ Socrates
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. ~ Mark Twain
Up Next: Day 4
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