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Published: November 25th 2008
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Chile - Santiago
At the horse races. Hola Chicos,
Arrived here this afternoon. The hotel is central but needs renovating. It´s got an Indian restaurant (hence that´s partly why I booked it).
I can smell the curry from here!. Just been around the main plaza, couldn´t find a tourist shop, looks like it´s a do it yourselves job here as well.
Had a pitcher of beer (hence the slurring in the writing).
Hope to book wine tours etc 2MRW: that´s text speak for those that don´t know it.
Went to the Indian, what can I say, if it was Akbar´s I wouldn´t pay!
21.11.08 Booked a 1/2 day city tour, mainly to see what was were. It was informative in which area was where and were we could walk and were we needed the metro. In the Afternoon we found the tourist board. It was off Plaza Aramas on Merced St. The staff didn´t speak much English, but my Spanish is so good now they understood every word I said (yeh and pigs do fly). We managed to book tours for 3 days. We then had the idea of walking to the virgin statue in Bohemian Bellavista. As
Chile - Santiago
Day at the races always confusion rains, the funicular was not working and we had to get a bus ticket, but only if the bus arrived. Anyway we got to the top. The views are nice but nothing like Sugar Loaf. We then decided to walk back to the hotel about 30mins. Had dinner in what we thought was an Italian (which it was) but the menu was Chilean. Wine and beer was good, not going to comment on the food.
22.11.08 Booked a tour to Valpariso (120km from Santiago and built on 45 hills) and the neighbouring city of Vina Del Mar.
Visited the home (now a museum) of Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet. The house was small, but so interesting and the views of the harbour really good. I´m not into poetry, but the poems he has written and displayed on the walls, of the house being build and his mother were really good. In fact, Adam would learn a lot from the design of this house. I tried to take some pics but was told I couldn´t. The city is very diverse i.e you get mansions next to shacks. See pics.
Next we visited the city
Chile - Santiago
View from the top of San Cristobal. of Vina del mar. Totally different with its modern buildings and beaches, again see pics.
23.11.08 Booked a tour to the Andes, to a ski resort Valle Nevado. The road up (about an hr from the city) was really winding. We picked up people from 2 5* hotels that were packed, the credit crunch doesn´t seem to exist here!. Once at the resort we went hiking to the first ski station with great views of the mountains. We hiked for around 1hr then returned via another snow bound route. Got a bit scary at one point as we were on the edge and the snow had turned to mud. Not going to comment on the food here, the wine is great and cheap, beer is OK.
24.11.08 Booked a wine tour in the Valle del Maipo, visiting two vinyards, Concha y Toro around 16000 hectares
and another in the afternoon Aquitania around 16 hectares. Very hot today around 35 in the shade. Got talking to an English couple just retired and on there missed gap year. During the tasting I got talking to a french couple ( looks like I´ve forgotten most of my French), they are staying
Chile - Santiago
View from San Cristobal. in Bellavista. They also said the food was tasteless.
Kay has had salad´s (lettuce and eggs mainly) for the last two day´s, so she was determined to find a Mexican, which she did. It was about 25mins walk. The food was a bit bland, again great wine.
25.11.08 Last day in Santiago, kay´s packing while I update the blog. Going to Plaza Armas as wé haven´t seen the cathedral etc. before going to the airport for our long flight to Sydney.
Observations in Santiago:
1. When we arrived the streets were full of rubbish and there was a pong in the air. We found out that the government workers were on strike, but that the strike had ended, so the clean up will begin tomorrow.
2. Teenage girls have the Amy Winehouse look
3. All the streets have trees planted with a meter square of soil around it. There is a foot between the pavement and the soil. It should be covered with a metal grill, but the grills have been nicked, also there are manholes sprinkled around the pavement with no covers, this makes it bloody dangerous to walk, especially after a bottle of wine,
Chile - Santiago
View of Santiago. lot of beer and flip flops
4. Don´t believe the prices of tours, they seem to be 20% more than advertised
5. You can´t see the Andes clearly because of the snog, it leaves a haze around them.
6. Chileans aren´t as friendly in the street; in all the other SA countries, if you open a map, someone will
ask where you want to go but not here.
7. The transport system is in total disarray. They had a great plan of integrating the metro with the buses and ran out of money.
I recall John Prescott planning something similar between bouts of vomiting
8. Goths appear in groups
9. We´ve been drinking the local juice which is a fresh peach in cooked barley, it´s nice and refreshing on a hot day
10. Lots of smooching going on Yuk!
11. Not heard the call to prays at dawn, in fact not heard the church bells on sunday either.
12. No sign of Xmas here, I bet back home the shops are full of Xmas kack!
13. Saw our one and only Sikh with a bright red turban
14. Drivers of cars when stopped at traffic lights just wind down
the window and talk to each other, imagine that in Blighty.
Americans: I think I´ve just commented on the dumb ones. To balance this, we have met lots of intelligent/knowledgeable ones as well. For example Paul (sat next to me on the plane) was going hiking in Calafate, we agreed on everything!. A couple we met in Baralochi from California were really funny and cracking jokes about their ecomony and their president to be, finally a woman in her sixties from New York who was going on an expedition to the Antartic.
Conclusion on South America:
One word: FANTASTIC. Already (in my head) planning the next trip here in 5yrs time. Why 5yrs because I´ve already planned the next one in the east.
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