Santiago, Chile

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After we eventually left Lima on the correct day we arrived in Santiago about 2am. I had got so used to Peruvian money that it was really confusing trying to sort out how much a taxi from the airport to our hostel was. We spoke to a couple of taxi drivers, well we tried as much as we could as we don't speak very much spanish at all, but managed to get to the hostel! It was a bit of a shock getting to Chile as we were totally on our own. I'd got used to having the group around and having a tour leader that spoke fluent English.

We spent the first day in Santiago wandering around the centre and getting our bearings. It was much more built up than Lima...lots more like London with people in suits and lots of hustle aned bustle. We found the tourist information to get some ideas of what to do for the next few days which wasn't that helpful as they didn't speak English!! What is the point in having a Tourist Ifo plasce that only speaks Spanish!!!!! After some confusion we managed to get some information on wine tasting and the Cerro San Cristobal so it was fairly productive! We had dinner in a very American restaurant that was a bit like a hard rock cafe but we did try some Chilean food called corn cake. Its made of potato, egg, beef, olives and some other random stuff!

The next day we were more pro-active. We headed up the Cerro San Cristobal on the fuicular and went on the cable car. Right at the top of the hill is a statue of the virgin mary which is all lit up at night. We didn't really understand what our tickets allowed us to do as it was all in spanish so we just handed it over and hoped for the best! At one point we made a friend, this random dog was following us around and sitting with us. I was pretty scared as I haven't had the rabies jab but luckily it wasn't foaming at the mouth so it wasn't too bad!! In the afternoon we organised to do some wine tasting for tomorrow. We tried ringing but they didn't speak English so we used an online translator to ask the lady in the internet cafe to ring for us...that didn't really work as she wrote what they said in Spanish and it didn't translate very well online! We couldn't reallt read her handwriting so that was a huge problem. Next step was to email! Ann sent an email to the vineyard in fluent spanish (using the online translator) but asking if we could have an English tour guide which i thought was hilarious! A few emails later and it was organised! That evening we ended up in a really yocal bar! The lonely planet had recommended it as it sells a drink called Terremoto, it is basically wine with ice cream...sounds gross but it was actually really nice! We were the only English people there, as soon as we walked in it was like a cartoon, everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and stared at us...quite intimidating! We ended up chatting to some Chilean lads who spoke really good English and it turned out to be a really fun night! I think the area we were in was a bit dodgy as the lads told us to put our money in our sock in case we got mugged (happy thoughts!) It was my turn to get the drinks in and I must have looked like a right weirdo bending down ang getting my money out of my shoe to pay!

The next day was our wine tasting trip. We managed to negotiate getting there on the metro but the taxi ride after that was a little bit hairy! We had a driver who didn't know where he was going and who, surprise surprise, didn't speak English!! After stopping to ask directions we managed to get there! We were the only two people on the tour so it was really awkward! I felt really under pressure to ask questions! It didn't help as well that the guide spoke really quickly and I couldn't quite understand everything that she was saying. I could see Ann nodding her head through the corner of my eye but I knew she couldn't understand either...it was another Chauchilla cemetery moment where I had to hold back my laughter!

After the tour we started the wine tasting...the bit I was looking forward to most! It was really awkward again as it was just the three of us! It was all set up really nicely with a spit bucket and eveything! Neither of us knew whether we should spit the wine out or not but luckily the guide said we didn't have too! Phew! We started looking at the colour of it and smelling it. I must have sounded ridiculous as I was coming out with all these stupid comments like 'very rich' and 'elements of spice' I guess you just get caught up in the moment! After the smelling was the tasting, I'm so incredibly immature when it comes to things like that as it made me laugh every time we went to drink the wines. The guide would be smelling it and then all of a sudden say 'and in our mouths' and then swig it back! We tried their best Chardonnay which was actually really nice, called Sol de sol. The guide left us to enjoy the rest of the wine so we had a chance to be silly and get the stupid photos over with! I felt like i'd been serious for far too long and needed to let my hair down!We felt we should buy a bottle so we got one of the premium reds, it was only US$8! Bargain!

Our last evening in Santiago. We headed to a cosy little restaurant called 'R' and had a three course meal with a raspberry daquiri...it was lovely! We made the most of it as when we get to NZ we're not going to be able to eat out like that!

The next day we checked out and spent more time wandering round the main square. We managed to buy Uno (it's all we played in Peru!) so cracked that out and roped a few Brazillian guys into playing. It's a brilliant ice breaker!

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