Food, glorious food!

Lomits is one of those venerable institutions in Santiago. The place is essentially a sandwich shop but the waiters wear red jackets and bow ties. You expect it to be filled with tourists but it feels like a lot of locals and regulars. You can sit outside, inside or at the sandwich bar. I quite mistakenly order a portable buffet of a stack of grilled white bread, ham, beef, and shrimp with shreded lettuce and tomato and thousand island dressing. I also order a side of fries and a pisco sour. The sandwich maker is constantly grilling bread along with hamburgesas and enormous beef and cheese steaks.
Santiago has a very different vibe than Buenos Aires. I am in Providencia which is a more business district but very nice and safe and touristed. The biggest difference is the more modern architecture and much taller buildings. And perhaps that the expectation of Buenos Aires is different than Santiago - I expected Santiago to be more third world. and it is not.

I went on a winery tour today to the Maipo Valley with a hilarious Italian and his Australian wife. The tours are much different than the tasting room tours in Napa and elsewhere. These ate much more like private cellar tours. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, there is much earthquake damage in the wine region and many of the cellars ate closed. We do a very impromptu tour of Cousino Marcul which is excellent and then after lunch a more commerical visit to Concha y Toro.

I have stopped into a little alley where there are a few little bars with outdoor seating. And it is a beautiful warm night to enjoy una cervesa o dos.

Adios!