Santiago

After 10 days of eating and drinking like kings in Argentina, it was back to Santiago for that flight on the 1st of September to, erm, Argentina. (Probably could have been planned better, but never mind!)

And what a welcome back we had, arriving just in time to drive straight through a riot. As our taxi from the bus station neared the centre, we immediately noticed the police presence; it was clear something was going down, and Neil had remembered seeing on the news earlier that the Unions had organised a demonstration that day. Very quickly, however, dozens of police became hundreds, in full riot gear and with dogs, using tanks and water cannons to supress the crowds. Before we knew it, we were right in thick of it, with bricks flying past the taxi and tear gas streaming in the car - clearly all very run of the mill for the driver, who didn´t even wind his window back up! It was all over very quickly for us, though, and before we knew it, we were safe in our b&b in the posh part of the city we´d chosen to stay in this time, Providencia.

We´d 3 nights in the city again, and couldn´t have asked for a more enjoyable stay this time. The weather was great; warm during the day, and not quite so bone chillingly cold at night (Adda, our host, explained that it had been a particularly cold winter, but that the worst of it now seemed to be over). I´m not sure if the upturn in the weather was the reason that the patios outside the city´s bars and cafes were now full every tea-time with people having an after-work beer, or if this is something we just didn´t notice the last time, but either way, if it´s part of the local culture... well, we just had to join in! Neil in particular felt he was starting to blend in well with the locals, and was overjoyed when a barista in Starbucks thought his name was Miguel. He puts it down to his natural flair for the language and Mediterranean good looks!

Apart from hitting the beers every day, however, we also took in some great sights. The Cerro San Cristobal is one of the most famous sights in Santiago - a hill with a statue of the Virgin Mary at its peak, with some superb views over the city. We used the really quite scary cable car to get to the top, and then descended on the funicular, a kind of a tram used for very steep slopes. We were also really glad to finally make it to the city of Valparaiso - a UNESCO World Heritage site, built on dozens of steep hills, and full of interesting cobblestone alleyways and passages. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco, and had one distinct advantage over San Fran - lots of those funiculars dotted about the town to save you having to climb up and down the hills!

And no trouble with the food this time round either - our hosts Adda and Luis helped to ensure that we ate very well indeed, and had some great recommendations for restaurants.

And, yes, we did go back to the Indian!

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