Monday in the city

Monday morning, after a restless night, I ventured by shanks pony along the busy road that I guessed would take me into the city central and stopped en route for a coffee - Spanish language isn't my strong point but I managed to convey the general idea to the cafe and wound up getting a small glass cup of the brew but the waitress had to go out of the cafe to change my 20,000 peso note. I was glad to have the change in smaller 1,000 peso denominations. I also made a note to myself to next time ask for a "cappachino grand" in order to get a large coffee with milk. You learn fast. The language translation app on my phone is brilliant - type in the English phrase and you get the Spanish translation including a voice option so you get the pronunciation correct (almost). The compass app must need calibrating, though, or else the sun is rising in the South here and is due East at midday?? I'll see if I can get it more accurate tomorrow as it could be useful. The smog is quite bad but I can just distinguish where the sun is most of the time. The mountains surrounding the city are quite close and would look spectacular on a clear day (after rain??). Some early snow evident on the highest peaks. The day was mild (around 17 or 18 C) today and I was the only person in Santiago wearing shorts and sandals! Many even had puffer jackets on. I walked for hours sightseeing, (including to the top of a very steep hill for an overview of the city) referring to my guide book along the way and seeing many of the most interesting points of interest but also reading and learning a huge amount about Chile's rather tumultuous past, especially the overthrow of the socialist Allende government by dictator Pinochet in 1973 - what a bloody coup that was and years of weeding out any opposition to his reign. Thankfully Chile is now quite stable politically with a democratically elected government, although the presence of military personnel everywhere suggests an undertone of instability.
Food vendors are everywhere - especially on the streets, but I'd be hesitant to buy from some of them due to what I perceive as a lack of hygiene. No evidence of hand washing facilities and unwrapped food open to whatever pathogens happen to be floating around in the madding crowd. Indoor restaurants abound and I had a steak, chips and eggs lunch almost too much to manage for 5,700 pesos (about NZD$13.00/USD$10.00).
After walking almost the entire length of the main road I wanted to catch a train back to my accommodation and knew to buy a smart card for 1,500 pesos ($3.00) and load it with enough cash to get me around the city for the next few days but despite pointing to the sales brochure and tendering 2,000 pesos the cashier kept asking for something else in Spanish which was lost on me so I finished up walking all the way back as well. Hopefully my bi-lingual host will be able to explain what I was missing when he gets home tonight so I can buy one tomorrow. The subway system is clean and efficient despite being very busy so I hope to use it as much as possible while I'm here.
Understandably, in a city of c.7 million people rubbish is an issue and some bins are overflowing (probably within hours of being emptied). Public toilets (Bano) could be an issue, too, but there are both free ones and pay per use ones (Eco Bano) - (the signs say $500 but of course they are 500 pesos - about a dollar). A dollar well spent as they're very clean with attendants constantly mopping the floors and keeping everything clean and hygienic. Starbucks could use an attendant at their outlets, too, as surprisingly they weren't as clean as I expected. All the major multinationals are here of course - Burger King, Subway, Maccas, Starbucks, etc. but I try to avoid them in favour of the local cuisine (steak and chips, LOL!). I'll try the enchiladas tomorrow! No doubt I'll think of other things to post after I've published this one for today, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow.