Feeling chilly in Chile

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It feels weird to be in a non-English speaking country again and after so long in Oz and NZ it feels as though we are starting our travels from the beginning. We arrived into Santiago and made our way to Jose´s flat - we booked a "home stay" as we haven´t done one before and wanted to give it a try. What really sold Jose´s to us was his extensive collections which he lists as a bonus extra that comes with staying at his place. They are in fact so extensive that you can barely get into the flat! The coca-cola collection in the kitchen leaves no spare inch of wall or surface free from bottles/cans/posters/trays and other memorabilia, our room had at least 100 base-balls caps as well as every letter/note that guests have written to him for the past 7 years and the lounge was adorned with paintings/certificates/books/ornaments and hundreds of photos of himself on his travels - Mum and Dad, I think you have met your match!! When we met him later that evening he was a really nice guy who offered us as much, or as little help as we wanted which was great.

It is reported that Chile is the closest South American country to becoming developed - it definitely feels very developed and seems a lot like an Eastern European country. The first couple of days were pretty cold and it rained for most of the time, it meant that we couldn´t see the Andes which we knew were hiding out there somewhere. We spent the days walking around the city and hiding in the museums to keep dry. Luckily on the day we were leaving the weather brightened up and we took the funicular up to the Cerro San Cristobal, which is the highest point in the city. You could see the snow-capped Andes, but you could also see a big brown curtain of smog hanging over the entire city. It was that bad that we didn´t want to go back down again into it! Jose´s flat was in a great area of town, really near the "Bellavista" area which is a hot spot for going out to in the evening. We made good use of this in the evenings and after eating by ourselves the first night, we eventually got into the swing of things but not going out to eat until 10pm -although things really don´t get going until about midnight. The Chilean wine is delicious, but so far it has been a bit of a surprise as to what we are going to be eating..just when we think we know what we are ordering, something entirely different appears at our table!

From Santiago we took a bus to the UNESCO world heritage site of Valparaiso on the coast. Ever since hearing that Liverpool also has this honour, we have been a bit sceptical as to what to expect, but Valparaiso turned out to be pleasantly surprising. We stayed in a funny hostel in the old section of town - the couple running it must have been in their 80´s and were very sweet. She was always busying herself with one task or another and permanently had a broom in her hand. There are lots of brightly coloured houses all set up on the hills looking down onto the once busy port. They have "ascensores", old style lifts dotted around the town to help you get up the hills, which were built back in the days when the town was thriving, these days though they are mainly a tourist feature. It was here we tried our first "pisco sours", a combination of grape brandy, lemon juice, egg white and powdered sugar - they must have been very good as I have little recollection of the rest of the evening, although apparently they did wonders for my Spanish!

We are crossing into Argentina from here, although the border crossing has been closed for the last few days due to the snow. We have been told to come back to the bus station tomorrow and hopefully we´ll be on our way - fingers crossed!

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Photos

On the Cerra Santa Lucia
The Andes are out there somewhere!

Smog, glorious smog
Santiago is famous for it

Valparaiso
The view from our hostels roof terrace

"Completo"
Sam enjoying one of Chile´s specialities - a hot dog smothered in tomatoes, avocado and mayonnaise.mmmmmm

Comments

[Andrew y Heather]

Hola Chicos
hey it was nice to bump into you in Mendoza.. enjoy the rest of your trip.