They Dance Alone

They dance alone, but more on that later.....

The end of June was my last trip to Santiago for the month.  I enjoy the long layover.  I was able to take Ladyfriend along on the first trip and she got business class both directions (but she got stuck next to a 100 year old Chilean non-rev who didn't know how to use the fancy seat or tablet so we nicknamed her Abuela).  It's winter there so it's great to just catch up or sleep or relax if you want to.  There are literally an endless list of options.

I discovered a great Peruvian Restaurant called Peru Gustoso that is simply amazing (although I learned that Peruvian restaurants in Chile are like Mexican restaurants here or Indian restaurants in England....they are obsessed with Peruvian food like we are with Mexican food and the Brits are with Indian food) and got to enjoy my favorite Peruvian soda (Inca Kola).

This last trip we arrived on a Monday, which happened to be a holiday for St. Peter or Paul, we could never figure it out.  As a result lots of places were closed so we didn't have much in the way of eating options that first day.  But we are Flight Attendants after all, the Macgyvers of the skies, and we can turn anything into a party.  My coworker Rockland always travels with fake candles and a Tahitian table cloth, so when we arrived at the crew room, it was decorated and ready for fun.

Since everything was closed, we ended up at an Ex-Pat bar popular with the pilots called California Bar.  It's run by two young people from California, and features mostly an American menu, but when that is all that is open, you do what you have to do.  The food ended up being pretty good and we were all happy with our selections.  We were also entertained with some soccer fans who were happy that their team had won a rather important match.  I imagine they had headaches the next day....

Of course we ended the night with some shots, which I haven't done in I don't know how long, but it was fun... they had rather explicit names, so the only one I can tell you about is the one my co-worker Velvet had called the Flaming Dr. Pepper.

The next day we woke up to a beautiful Chilean winter day.  Not a cloud in the sky and the smog was not even that bad, as you could see the Andes mountains!

I went with my friends Mari-Carmen and Ann to the Museo de la Memoria, or Museum of Memories.  It was dedicated the the Human Rights struggle in Chile from 1973 to 1990 when the country was ruled by a military dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet.  The museum opened in 2010 and was closed briefly following the earthquake last year.  The first stone in the building was laid by Michelle Bachelet, who was president at the time it opened, and was also a victim of torture under the Pinochet regime.

The entry into the building has an exhibit about Human Rights and how it's a universal challenge to make sure they are upheld.  After heading upstairs, you are given a step by step retelling of the Chilean story.  Socialist President Salvador Allende was overthrown on September 11th, 1973.  A timeline along the wall show that in a matter of 12 hours, the military had cut off communications, killed Allende, and installed themselves as rulers of the country.

Photography was not permitted inside the building, but I did snap a quick shot of the main room.  The thousands of pictures on the wall are the "deseparecidos" or disappeared, the Chileans who were detained by the government and never heard from again.

Over the course of the 17 year dictatorship, over 35,000 people were subject to Human Rights violations including 28,000 victims of torture, 3,000 executions, and 1,300 who simply disappeared and were presumed to have been killed by the military regime.  Additionally, over 200,000 left the county in exile to avoid detention.  A sad part of Chilean history.  Ann, Mari-Carmen and I left the museum feeling sad and deflated.  It was an emotionally powerful exhibit and you can't help but walk away feeling drained.

For me, the most moving part of the exhibit was the story dedicated to the "arpilleras".  The Catholic Church in Chile funded the creating of these handmade handkerchiefs which Chilean woman used as a form of artwork and self-expression allowing them to create images that questioned the Pinochet regime and called out the human rights struggle.  It was really their only form of self-expression.  A special dance even took shape, where the female would dance her part minus her male partner to symbolize his disappearance. It was given worldwide acclaim after Sting wrote a song called "They Dance Alone".  When I was a junior in college, I took a class called "People of the Southern Cone" and I remember studying the Human Rights issue in Chile and reading about this Arpillera movement.  To be able to see actual examples at the exhibit after having studied the issue was very special for me.

The plaza outside the museum has seahorse iron grates that serve as drains.  We learned inside, that for many of the detained, life was spent in the dark or blindfolded for most of the day.  The only time they were permitted to see was when they went to the bathroom or bathed, and the drains all had seahorses in the grating.  Since that was the only thing they saw every day, it became a symbol for those who were in detention to carry on and try to survive.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again, and again, and again!

The old adage proves true...

I have been trying for a couple of years now to see War Horse on the stage in London, and after standing in the return queue for a dozen performances with no success, I finally landed a ticket to the hottest play in the West End!

I wasn't really expecting much in the way of the layover.  It was supposed to rain and we arrived at the hotel late with all the traffic.  After a short nap, it looked like the rain may stay away, so I ventured out and made my way to the National Theatre on Drury Lane (do you know the Muffin Man?).  Lots of Union Jack flags hanging everywhere, perhaps a leftover from the Jubilee celebration?

Normally there is a return queue at least 10-15 people deep, but today I did not see one, even though the show was sold out.  I went to the box office and inquired about the shows sell out status.  The box office manager confirmed the show was sold out, but asked me to hold one minute and he made a call.  He came back and offered me a choice of the two seats that had just come open.  Both were adjacent to the sound technician's booth, but I opted for the seat with the limited view because it was only £25 versus the seat directly in front of it which was £55.  That more expensive seat ended up remaining open, so I was able to sit there for the performance.

The show was amazing.  The horses are portrayed with puppets, but they are so lifelike you forget they are puppets twenty minutes into the show.  I couldn't take pictures during the show, so I did a little browsing of the web and found a video and a picture to give you an idea of what the incredible experience was like.

So what was turning out to be a mediocre layover, ended up being fantastic.  And we were not without our crazy characters on the flight either.  I was the first class galley stew on this flight and one of our upgrade passengers decided he would be more comfortable sleeping in his boxers versus wearing the pajamas we offer or his own pants.  After he got up to go to the bathroom in just his boxers and failing to get him to put his pants back on, I made him wrap a blanket around himself.  We're a family airline after all and we try to keep it clean!

The best view I ever had in Honolulu

Trying to catch up on a lapse in my blogging, not that I have thousands of fans waiting on my every word.  Last month on reserve, I flew quite a bit, including a trip to Honolulu.  We always sign what we call the "hotel sheet" when we get on the plane to start the trip.  The purser turns the sheet over to the hotel reception staff and they assign our rooms.  I always leave a funny comment like "Presidential suite, Diamondhead view" and always end up with a view of the big air conditioning unit facing the parking lot.

Imagine my surprise when the purser delivered my room key and asked me if I knew someone in high places.  I had a room in the high rise tower with a great view of Diamondhead and the beach.  The view was spectacular, but it was a bit unnerving to be on the 39th floor.  I got a little queasy on the balcony.

Shortly after settling in to my room it started to rain and I got an even better view as a beautiful Hawaiian rainbow appeared in front of the dormant volcano.

I also had a nice surprise and had breakfast with my friend Dr. Bob, who lives in Florida.  Bob's late partner George was a flight attendant co-worker and friend who passed away from leukemia several years ago.  I've maintained a friendship with Bob and when I saw he had posted a picture on Facebook from Hawaii I texted him and realized he was staying at a hotel a few blocks away, so we made plans to meet for breakfast.  It was fun to catch up and good to see him so happy.

San Cristóbol and Zumba

On reserve this month, I got a Santiago trip.  I've really started enjoying these trips now that the layovers are longer and we actually have time to do things.  This is a great time of year to visit because they are heading into fall in South America so the weather is cool and pleasant.

I was lucky to be on the trip with several of my friends, and we were a pretty junior crew.  This layover we tackled the Cerro San Crisóbol, a hill in the northern part of town that overlooks the entire city.  The hill is 2600 feet above sea level at it's peak, and is about 1000 feet above the rest of town.  It's several miles to the top, but the path is graded and the incline is not too steep so it wasn't that bad.  It's the home of the largest public park in Santiago.

We started out walking past some Chilean graffiti as we made our way into the entrance of the park.

This big skyscraper is the Gran Torre, which is the tallest building in South America.  It is still under construction though and is expected to be done in 2013.

The pathway up to the top of San Cristóbol is also popular with bike riders.  These pair of bike riders brought along their dog,

The foothills of the park also have a Japanese garden overlooking the downtown skyscrapers.

About half way up the hill we stumbled upon a Zumba class.  I've never participated in one of these latin aerobics classes, but it was pretty fun!  We stayed for a few of the songs and I managed to capture some pictures and some video!

The higher we got the more we noticed the smog in the city.  

Our trip up the hill also coincided with a big event with Catholic youth and clergy.  They were all dressed in white robes and making their way up the hill to the top to the statue of the Blessed Virgin.

At the very top of the hill is the Parque Metropolitano Santiago (or PMS....I know... who wants to go to PMS park?).  There is a small stage and the church groups were assembling there for Mass.

Even with the cool temperatures, I still worked up quite a sweat as I made my way to the very top.

Karaoke and Cherry Blossoms

My most recent trip to Japan was pretty cool.  Finally got to fly with my friend Sandy.  We've been waiting four years for that and we were working together in first class.  On the day we arrived, the weather was pretty crummy and rainy.  Sandy and I had planned to go into town for noodles and drinks, but instead met up with some of the other crew members for a little karaoke time.  Karaoke, Japanese for "empty orchestra" originated here, and this was my first time performing karaoke in Japan.  Some of our selected performances included "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel, "Get Ready" by The Temptations, "Lady Marmelade" by Christina Aquilera, and "Living La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin.  I used my camera phone to record a little of the fun!

I woke up early the next morning and was happy to see it wasn't raining so I decided to take the bus into town for a few hours walking around.  It was the end of the cherry blossom season and I wanted to catch a glimpse, since it might be a while before I get back here with all the changes coming down the pipe at work.

I made my way down Green Street towards the Narita-san temple.  

Lots of flowers were in blooms and lots of variety of colors, but I was not having much luck finding cherry blossoms.

I noticed that there were a lot of blossoms on the street.  I wonder if the heavy rains from the day before had pushed the colorful pink blossoms to the ground?

In the end, I didn't really see anything spectacular in the cherry blossom department.  I still had an enjoyable couple of hours walking around.  The pretty blossoms I saw ended up being from outside my hotel window.

In Search of a Better Burger

I was able to trade one of my Hawaii trips for a London trip this past week.  I was there the same time as my friend Kathy.  We've gone and hung out on previous trips.  The plan was to go to a place called The Dove in Hammersmith.  But I was on the late late trip and didn't get to the hotel until about 2pm so we got kind of a late start.  Being that we are both fans of the burger, we ended up at a London chain called Byron.  Last summer we found what we thought was the best burger in London, which I profiled in my Camden Town entry.  Well, Byron blew the Lockside Bar & Kitchen out of the water!

We started our night with a pre-burger meal at The Blackbird in Earl's Court.  I enjoyed a summer beer called Honey Dew.

Before heading to dinner, we checked out the local Boots for Remegel.  It's the best thing ever invented for heartburn and about two months ago they quit making it.  Our mutual friend Dr. Terry gobbles it down like candy, and I have probably bought him about 50 boxes or so over the last few years, but sadly, Remegel is not more. :(

Dinner was great.  Kathy wanted me to try the zucchini fries, but I have never really embraced the zucchini and opted for onion rings instead.  Our burgers were great, made even better with Perroni beer and Coleman's mustard.  It's spicy English mustard with horseradish!

The Byron Burger in Earl's Court was apparently rated the best Byron Burger in 2011.  They were the recipient of the Super Squirrel, being that they received the highest score on their reviews.  I give them snaps for creating this unique award, but it's still kind of freaky.

My friend Mary Beth was on the trip with me.  She's always fun to fly with.  Last summer her mom and daughter came along on our 4 day London trip.  We snapped this picture in the crew rest seat so we could post it on her daughter's wall to embarrass her since Olivia said we are "old".

Friends

Catching up on the blogging, my friend Melissa was kind enough to trade trips with me so that I could be working the return from Maui when my friends Lisa and Debbie would be traveling.  They divide their time between Hawaii and the mainland, but when I am in Maui, they are always kind enough to take me out to dinner.  On this trip, we went to a little hotel called The Four Seasons and had a great meal at one of their branded restaurants, Wolfgang Puck's Spago.  I enjoyed chicken with onions, mushrooms and goat cheese.  All the ingredients from the chicken to the onions were local from the island.

The flight home was typical... full full full.  Lisa and Debbie were right by my jump seat and Lisa and I chatted for a bit before she caught a nap.  Of course what redeye isn't complete without a medical emergency.  This time we had a little girl who was bleeding thru her eye!  A physician onboard thought she was having an allergic reaction, but after a little Benedryl, she was fine.