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Published: June 29th 2007
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At the border we checked ourselves out of Argentina, but forgot to stamp into Chile, too busy playing with the sniffer dog called "detective"... All the stories about your bag getting turned inside out were unconfirmed as we passed trough un checked, even with a film crew filming the whole episode.
Arrived in Santiago and it was baking hot, the geography of the city means it sits in a bowl hence the weird smog that lingers overhead. However in the city itself it felt much cleaner and def a lot less dodgy characters than BA. Were a bit confused when we first arrived, but eventually found the subway and I managed to blag student tickets (arounf 13p)- cashback! If only the rest of Chile was such good value. At our subway destination we were still struggling to get our bearings and were helped by a very friendly businessman, first impresions of the locals were great. Managed to walk right past our hostel, "Happy House Hostel", but when we did eventually find it we were blown away as it was beautiful inside, it was a converted manision house and we were in a very fashionable part of town. The price reflected this for the most expensive room so far, at least it was a privete room.
Quick shower and change (out of all our layers) then we headed out to explore. We headed to a recommended restaurant via the cashmachine, but could Gem get any to work?? Not for foriegn clients it kept saying! Eventually we found the foriegn clients button that had been there all along. We were told in the guidebook to arrive early... We arrived to find it empty, with the waiters still setting up. Must get used to this late eating thing! The difference in food from Argentina was instant and we both opted for fish as a welcome break from the copious quantity of red meat consumed.
We woke early the next day and had an interesting inclusive breakfast, consisting of: Chilian Frosties, herbal tea and cake. A quick planning sesion soon ensured we would see everything we wanted in a day. It was a beautiful day and although initially cold it soon warmed up. On route to the centre, passed PAP which I thought bore a striking resembelance to Gem much not to her amusement!
To gain some culture we headed into the Pre-Columbian museum, it was very interesting with lots of random artifacts, unfortunately I couldnt blag student entry. We moved onto the Presidents house; a surreal experiance with an inordinate number of stray dogs chilling outside and a very busy road passing by the front door: it wouldnt happen in the UK! Ironically we bumped into the French couple we sat beside on the bus from Argentina in the Londres-Paris district. We then stumbled upon an Artisan market. Gem proceeded to have a field day and totally disregarding the guide book (stating that you dont bargain in Chile) proved an astute barterrer!
We then headed to the Municiple Gardens, a very beautiful hill in the centre of town with amasing views over the city. There seemed to be love in the air as there was a ridiculous quantity of "canoodling" couples, guess it is the done thing in Chile? After the gardens, we thought we had passed one of the infamous cafes of Santiago where scantily clad girls serve you, however it turned out to be a cafe being renovated, gutted! We then stopped for a dring in the Literary Cafe, surrounded by a park and a duel carraigway on either side, a haven among chaos, some local boys even managed a game of football on the thin strip of grass.
We made our way to the Bellavista district (the cosmo part) and stopped for lunch. Whilst waiting for food, I put this unusual sensation of the ground moving down to the chap a few hundred metres away on a pneumatic drill. Only later to discover that what we had felt was in fact an Earthquake, which alledgedly occur once a month. After lunch it was onwards to the Pablo Neruda museum, but the extortionate price for the compulsory english speaking guide put us off. We decide instead to do the touristy thing and take the funicular to see the famous Virgin Mary statue. The shared bottle of wine at lunch prompted Gems sceptacism over immaculate conception, which lasted a good half hour (until the booze wore off) Ha ha. The view from the top was spectacular, it did unfortuately highlight the problem of smog in the city, which you are not really aware of a ground level. We played with the camera taking silhouette photos in the setting sun.
Headed home via the supermarket, inspired by the enormous Avacados, (we had them on toast), chatted to a friendly guy also preparing dinner (definitely played for the other team), then off to bed as we were heading to Valparaiso early in the morning.
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