Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 144

Hi guys, Well two months somehow have gone by already and it seems bloody unfair! Really to do South America properly you need a lot longer, maybe a year would do....any donations from anyone to allow us to stay here a bit longer would be welcome...the Rich and Rach fund.... Having just checked our last entry I have to report that unfortunately we did not see any nuns or get to hear Ave Maria as we choose to go to the restaurant on a sunday....yes it seems obvious now that they wouldn´t be open on the holy day of rest! Nevermind, central lima was a dump in any event. We didn´t stay there long and quickly hot footed it back to Miraflores...a much nicer part of town! We did however go for a really good meal ... read more

Buenas Noches à tout. Je suis présentement à Santiago, métropole de 6 millions d'habitants et capitale du Chili. C'est une ville particulièrement propre et moderne, et avec un coût de la vie qui va avec! On est bien loin de la fondue au chocolat péruvienne à 2.50 $! François est bien arrivé à Mendoza vendredi soir, et ce, pratiquement à l'heure. On a passé samedi à visiter la ville et ses environs. En matinée, on s'est essayé à utiliser le transport en commun, et avec succès, pour se rendre à Maipu, ville de banlieue qui regroupe les principaux vignobles de la région. Mendoza est le centre viticole de l'Argentine et il se peut que vous ayez goûté des vins qui y proviennent. Nous avons opté pour la Bodega La Rural qui produit les vins Rutini (connait ... read more

The day stared well with 4 rounds of brown toast and delicious jam to go on it. It is amazing how something so basic can bring a smile to our faces, but maybe it's just a sign that we're missing home? We followed this by taking some light exercise and visiting the nearby St Cristobal Hill where we got a good, if not a little hazy, view of Santiago and the surrounding snow-capped mountains. At around 2.30 we made our way to the football stadium. On the metro there was a lot of ticker tape (possibly they stole this idea off Pompey), a group of chanting fans roped off for their own carriage and a lot of transport police. Following the noise and the mass of people all going in the same direction, we got into ... read more

Today was several chores and a walking tour. We did some shopping and sent another parcel home, and travelled into the suburbs to buy tickets for tomorrow's big game - the Santiago derby. Afterwards we did a fairly interesting walking tour around Santiago’s most interesting buildings, a pleasant stroll in the afternoon sunshine but not exactly rivetting blog material. Then, after a power nap, we hit the town. We had dinner in a 1940’s-styled bar (something we’ve not come across before in our collective 56 years), misunderstanding the Spanish menu and ending up with about a kilo of cheese each. This was washed down however with a very pleasant Chilean red. They had ‘Kitty Fernandez’ singing and sounding like her proverbial strangled namesake, with a guy supposedly accompanying her on the piano. But the piano stayed ... read more

So its time to say a sad goodbye to South America. We have had such a wonderful time here - its hard to believe we have been here 5 months - it feels both longer and shorter than that. Our final days have been spent in Santiago - the capital of Chile aka the least recommended place we have been. Whenever we spoke to anyone previously about having been here we generally got a wrinkle of the nose, a shrug of the shoulders and the statement "its just a big city". I have to say I agree. We are, however, staying in a very picturesque corner on Calle Londres and Calle Paris - its like an old quarter of Paris. Our hostel (Residencial Londres) is a grand old townhouse which is lovely. The city itself is ... read more