Santiago: Caveat, Visitor

We had two incidents on our last day in Chile: a taxi driver who set the meter on fast-forward and then palmed two 10k peso notes right before our eyes...and then, our hotel, La Foresta, tried to scam us with an additional, much-inflated bill (we had already paid in full via Hotels.com). The first was not a lot of money, and we did have the satisfaction of doing our civic duty and reporting the matter, at some length, to the Carabineros. We expect nothing to come of it. No sooner had we finished with the police and gotten back to the hotel, the smiling desk clerk told us we owed another $277, since Hotels.com does not pay the full costs of the room. At length, with our "fully paid" receipt in hand (on iPhone), we said no way and then spent the night fretting about what might happen. Next morning, a different clerk was on duty, and he checked us out with no further ado. Vicki has reported the matter to Hotels.com, although we expect nothing to come of that either. Nearly eight years of incident-free travel, scores of taxis and dozens of hotels...and then two incidents in one afternoon! We'll be far more wary with taxi drivers. And always have a receipt for the hotel.

The taxi driver did not like being photographed

Tried to pop the lid before I could his license number

And makes his get-away

Our room at La Foresta

Nice, and a great location in Santiago

These pix taken to show we didn't trash the
room; once you've been messed with, you begin
to wonder what will happen next

Costanera Center, Gran Torre Santiago

I wanted to see a bit of the new city, and so we chose the nearly brand new Costanera Center, in Providencia barrio. Its nearly 1,000 feet tall Gran Torre Santiago is the tallest building in South America, and the shopping center, which occupies the first 6-7 floors, is also South America's largest. Plus it contained the Hard Rock Cafe. Who could resist?

Thus; someone else's photo

Mine, from the ground up

Associated buildings

We did not ride up to the top for the view; Chile
is the most earth-quake-prone of all countries...

Among the escalators

There is not simply a food court, but rather a food floor; here
I am panning around half of it

Other half

Among the more interesting restaurants

Not sushi; although there were several other sushi places

More panning

Crepes and Nutella

"Keep calm and eat crepes"

Cheap seats

Escalator to 7th floor cine plex

Every retail and food franchise known; and in English, too

Auto showroom in basement

Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbiano, 2

I wish I could comment more knowledgeably...

Gold items using lost wax method

Paleolithic figurines

Huge victory steele

In a large collection of pitchers

Muy famoso; see below

Smoking pipe; tobacco, presumably

More silver

Remember these?

Make mine a double

Yes, I'll have another

Dance of the Decapitated

More textiles

At an Incan cocktail party

Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbiano, 1

The cultural highlight of our visit to Santiago was the national museum of pre-Columbian art, off the Plaza de Armas. Pre-Columbian art is a subject about which we knew little, but learned much, and were quite impressed. The museum is organized into "Chile before it was Chile," temporary exhibits, and the larger permanent collection which is primarily South and Meso-American. The display and organization are superb. And in English, too.

In "Chile before Chile"

Large wooden scultpture, Birth of Venus pose

Eyebrows and nose thus depicted; Picasso?

Exactly like the things one might see among
Maori artifacts in New Zealand; in jade too

Silver

Remember these earrings

Chileans began the practice of mummification
about 6,000BC, some time before the Egyptians

Snorting device and bag for snorts (used by
shaman, so it said)

Exquisite textiles

Late stone age geometrical figures, ritual use

For us, the piece de resistance...a real quipu...

No Rosetta Stone as yet found

Closer up

Moving upstairs to the permanent collection

Look familiar, Rebecca? Dancing figures

I know almost nothing of ceramics, but these works struck me
as comparable to pre-Classic Greek items we have seen; same age

Wait a second... I didn't think they did wheels in this hemisphere

Similar to Greek

Ditto

Wearing flayed skin; one of the more charming
practices

Modeling new head-gear fashion