Blogs from Santiago, Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 5

David here... We sadly left our wonderfully comfortable room in Valpo. There was an issue with the card payment connection, and most hotels wouldn't let you leave until you found another way to pay. At Puerta Escondido however our host just said she'd ring it through later on and let us know if there were any issues. This highlights just how relaxed and laidback the place is. We walked down the hill to the nearby plaza and jumped onto a Trolebus that took us to within a couple of blocks of the bus station. We spotted a Pulman bus waiting in a bay that was due to leave for Santiago in 5 minutes. Within 2 we had bought tickets, managing to get seats together, and stowed our luggage. The bus left on time and about 1.5 ... read more

Un mont au milieu de la ville avec une vue magnifique sur celle-ci et sur les montagnes enneigées qui forment la cuvette de Santiago.... read more

Carnival continues with nothing other than parties, beers, good times and fantastic friends! Notice there is no mention of sleep!! We managed to bag ourself some tickets for the Sambadrome on Sunday night (the carnival dancing you see on tv) and wow it was FANTASTIC. Words and photos will never do it justice. From 10pm to 7:30am we watched five samba schools strut their stuff for an hour each with unimaginable costumes and floats with every colour you can imagine. It was literally an orgasm for the eyes!!! You just cannot fathom organising that many people on that scale! Some people may have seen that there was an accident after the first school, where the last float crashed into the crowd. We did witness this but we're unsure of what exactly had happened. Local news did ... read more

Geo: -33.4691, -70.642Chile is increasingly famous for its wines. So today we have a wine tour Concha y Toro which is one of the largest wineries in chili and maybe even the world. This region is for red wines and over the coast is for the white wines. Chile is border on both sides by mountains (Andes on the east and coastal mountain range on the west. The Maipo River Valley is home to many wineries known for their red wines elaborate estate. The Casablanca valley is the one between Santiago and Valparaiso. The ride out there was okay and not very scenic. There is some very poor regions here. We toured winery which was nice. Bought two bottles to,take on board the ship. The Chardonnay was not good. We will see about the rest. We ... read more

Geo: -33.4691, -70.642February 13We had a long uneventful flight. Just so tiring but was worth extra money to upgrade. Arrived in Santiago right on schedule. Customs wasn't bad but then I got ushered through the handicapped section. Took bus to hotel got signed in and had a chance for a short rest then grabbed a bite to eat. Already drank water at hotel. Just habit when I took my meds. So heres to hoping that it was well purified. Will try and do better until we get on the ship. It us beautifully warm and sunny. Lots of haze and about 80. Boarded a bus after a lunch for a 3 hour city tour. Saw downtown presidential palace where president works. The country does not provide living quarters. Plaza de Armas - Santiago's main square, Constitution ... read more