Santiago

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Sarah and I stopped in Santiago for a few days over a weekend in March. Neither of us knew too much about the city and we were pleasantly surprised over our time in the Chilean capital. The city is located in an Andean mountain valley and has a population of over 5 million people – hence the issues with smog (although we were lucky as the weather was gorgeous and the breeze kept the smog at bay). The capital is a sprawling bustling city, with pretty parks, streets, and a slick Spanish feel. We stayed at a great hostel which was owned by a good friend of our friend. Over the four days we toured and partied and got to know Santiago a little better.

Day 1 was a fiesta: After walking around in the afternoon, we signed up for the infamous pub crawl with our hostel. Our fun group consisted of Canadians, Israelis, Swiss, German, French, Brazilian, and us two…an American girl and Irishman. Not that I felt that I had to preserve the Irish’ reputation, but I certainly made the most of the drink deals. The night was a blast, with only one sour note when our Brazilian mate was thrown out of a nightclub.

Instead of waking early the next morning to do a bike tour, we opted to have a little lie in and cruise around the city at our own pace. We popped up to the metropolitan park which provided a nice view of the city. By the time we finished in the park, I had a serious hunger….so enter the Chorrillana. This gastronomous beast consists of sauteed steak, onions, peppers, and a couple of fried eggs atop a bed of French fries. Not for the faint hearted! After a good fifteen minutes, I managed to defeat the mighty Chorrillana and decided to celebrate by heading out for another night on the town. We popped over to the Bellavista district which is one of the party spots in town. After checking out a few bars we got to The Estacion – a cool club with a couple of DJs spinning great tunes.

Bike Tour

We did finally manage to do the bike tour one morning. It was a great way to see new parts of the city and enjoy the nice weather. After Mendoza, it took a bit of getting used to cycling without drinking alcohol but we did ok! We also did a walking tour with a fun Dutch guide. Over the tours we checked out the La Vega market, Mercado Central, lla Moneda Palace, The Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art and another home of Pablo Neruda (you might remember him from Valparaiso – the womanizing poet!). Typical of most of the cities we’ve been in, we also had a street dog accompany us on our tours! He was a real nice Husky with different color eyes as you can see in the pics.

Hot Dogs.

So after a while we definitely saw that a lot of American influences in Chile. The kids all wear the same clothes, American music plays everywhere and, funnily, they are BIG into their hotdogs. You can’t walk down a street in Santiago without seeing a sign for hotdogs, and they don’t play around with their sausages either (cue joke). Sarah and I grabbed a couple one night in a street restaurant. There must have been about ten different types of hot dogs that you could get, and sizes ranging from regular to over a foot long! Woof!



Hope you enjoy! We did-

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Photos

Welcome to Santiago
In the Park

Hangover Food
Chorillana