south america
Feb. 11th, 2023 06:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacefemYup, I have now been to south america. three countries in one week, lots of late work nights but I can say I've been there!
These cities were HUGE. I was taken off guard, I just don't think about it much. To put these numbers in perspective... the top two cities in the US are NYC (8M) and LA (4M).
Bogota Colombia (population: 7M) - It's a gorgeous city, covered in art, my favorite graffiti. But I didn't sleep well. It's at 8000 feet! Altitude-induced insomnia is apparently a thing. We took a Funicular up to to the gorgeous Sanctuary of Monserrate and had dinner at a restaurant on top of the mountain overlooking the city. I wouldn't want to drive there, motorcyclists are zooming in between cars and tucking in front of you at every light.
Santiago Chile (population: 5.6M) - We were only there for one night, barely got our feet under us and couldn't see the mountains because they're having terrible issues with wildfires right now. The city was hazy. Customs took forever. But the wine and sea bass was still excellent.
Sao Paulo Brazil (population: 12M) - The WORST traffic, it took hours to get to the airport. But we were prepared and warned! Houses are either gorgeous, or crowded into flavelas, brick and corrugated metal structures that look like they were built by residents. We drank caipirinhas - lots of limes and sugar, and ate so much meat and cheese. Buildings have helicopter pads so people can just skip over the traffic. There were crowded trains. Every business meeting had fruit and orange juice in addition to coffee and water and cake, everyone was so hospitable. Their airport was easy to get in and out of once we dealt with the roads.
Most trips I take, I love exploring public transportation, but I didn't have time on this one.
I'd love to take my family to south america now. My daughter is learning spanish, so if we went to a spanish-speaking country we could all warm up on it and learn some more. Unlike Europe, it's a 5 hour flight across the Caribbean. It's a foreign enough experience that I feel like we'd be feeling something really different. I felt safe. There's this reputation about it, but every country is different and everywhere we went we were fine. I would have felt great walking around by myself outside our hotels if I'd had the time.
The point of our trip was visiting airport maintenance shops. south america LOVES airplanes. We met the coolest, most excited people, and even when I see airplanes every day it never gets old to meet someone new and hear them say "let's see the hangar!"
It's nice to be back, but this was one of my favorite work trips ever.
These cities were HUGE. I was taken off guard, I just don't think about it much. To put these numbers in perspective... the top two cities in the US are NYC (8M) and LA (4M).
Bogota Colombia (population: 7M) - It's a gorgeous city, covered in art, my favorite graffiti. But I didn't sleep well. It's at 8000 feet! Altitude-induced insomnia is apparently a thing. We took a Funicular up to to the gorgeous Sanctuary of Monserrate and had dinner at a restaurant on top of the mountain overlooking the city. I wouldn't want to drive there, motorcyclists are zooming in between cars and tucking in front of you at every light.
Santiago Chile (population: 5.6M) - We were only there for one night, barely got our feet under us and couldn't see the mountains because they're having terrible issues with wildfires right now. The city was hazy. Customs took forever. But the wine and sea bass was still excellent.
Sao Paulo Brazil (population: 12M) - The WORST traffic, it took hours to get to the airport. But we were prepared and warned! Houses are either gorgeous, or crowded into flavelas, brick and corrugated metal structures that look like they were built by residents. We drank caipirinhas - lots of limes and sugar, and ate so much meat and cheese. Buildings have helicopter pads so people can just skip over the traffic. There were crowded trains. Every business meeting had fruit and orange juice in addition to coffee and water and cake, everyone was so hospitable. Their airport was easy to get in and out of once we dealt with the roads.
Most trips I take, I love exploring public transportation, but I didn't have time on this one.
I'd love to take my family to south america now. My daughter is learning spanish, so if we went to a spanish-speaking country we could all warm up on it and learn some more. Unlike Europe, it's a 5 hour flight across the Caribbean. It's a foreign enough experience that I feel like we'd be feeling something really different. I felt safe. There's this reputation about it, but every country is different and everywhere we went we were fine. I would have felt great walking around by myself outside our hotels if I'd had the time.
The point of our trip was visiting airport maintenance shops. south america LOVES airplanes. We met the coolest, most excited people, and even when I see airplanes every day it never gets old to meet someone new and hear them say "let's see the hangar!"
It's nice to be back, but this was one of my favorite work trips ever.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-11 01:18 pm (UTC)I've only been to Santiago of the ones you went to, and it's a pretty cool place. I only spent a day and half there and could have spent much more.