So here we are on the penultimate flight of the journey, having almost looped once around the world in 220 days. There’s just one more place for us to explore before we go home.
For the past week we’ve been in Santiago, though we didn’t do much at all while we were there. Mark had a bad stomach for a couple of days, which was potentially my fault because I used tap water for the rice we ate. I had the same rice twice though and I was fine, so maybe he was just faking it so he could stay in bed for a while.
We had plans to explore more of the city and maybe even head north to Valparaiso for the day, but instead we slowed right down and I got some bits done that’ll make life easier when we return. I’ve managed to add a few posts here too, so South America is actually the most documented region in a few months.
On the days we did venture out we visited museums and art galleries which made a nice change from rocks and ruins. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the natural wonders we’ve seen, it’s just easier to be impressed by a very different type of attraction than try to top Machu Picchu or the Uyuni Salt Flats.
The first museum we explored was __. I loved it there because it was full of art, textiles and ceramics which were quirky and unique to this region. We’ve seen a lot of galleries now and it’s always fascinating to see the illustrations and patterns which different cultures produced. Even though a lot of them use simple and often similar tools in their craft there’s often no crossover in styles.
The other museum we visited we actually stumbled upon when we were at the post office buying stamps for our postcards. There was a room in the back with cabinets full of old stamps from different countries, along with old furniture from the post office and old post boxes. We both actually really enjoy looking at the designs and illustrations on stamps, so we spent quite a while in there browsing a few.
We met a guy in the post office museum who was shocked that we couldn’t speak Spanish. He was lovely, but he wouldn’t give up on trying to tell us things while we were looking around. I’m pretty sure he was asking us where we were from so we could see stamps from home, along with random facts about the other countries we opened up. Unfortunately no amount of arm flapping was going to get across whatever it is he wanted us to know about Poland.
While trying to find some souvernirs we also wandered into the contemporary art gallery. As contemporary art goes it was the usual mix of weird things, none of which we understood because we couldn’t read the leaflet. For some pieces it didn’t really matter as it was nice to see anyway, but there’s always a few obscure ones.
It’s actually been really nice to not do much exploring for a week. After a few days I get restless and am desperate to at least go for a walk, but I got a lot done when I had the laptop and a reliable internet connection for a couple of days. Our shop is back to normal, ready to go live once we’ve had time to count all of our stock. I also managed to do some bits for Liverpool Print Fair, which will be exciting to be a part of again next month.
I’ll be so glad to be done with flights for a while, especially ones which last longer than a few hours. I’ve never been too bothered by journeys other people would think are too long, and I think this trip has extended the length of time I can tolerate. Having said that, not having to go to sleep on buses, planes or trains again for at least six months will be delightful.
Just six hours to go on this flight, then five hours to get to Montreal tomorrow. Following that it’s another train back in a few days and our final flight home which should only take about 7 hours. Oh and then there’s the train back to Liverpool from London, plus the train home. Easy peasy.