Santiago and Valapariaso Chile

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We’ve left the hot, humid, tropical climate of Brazil for a brisker climate - cool morning and evenings. However, the afternoons could be sweltering. We were in Santiago Chile. The city seemed cleaner and richer than Buenos Aires and had a great metro system. Our hotel was in the Providencia neighborhood close to the Plaza Armas, a huge pedestrian plaza with St Ignatius Church being the cornerstone. We arrived here via the metro on our 1st morning just in time for cappuccinos. So we followed the crowd to a very modern (interior) building. Oh La La, the baristas looked like playboy bunnies without the tails and fishnet nylons! The cappuccinos were good and the people watching even better.!

Fortified and ready to explore the city, we boarded a double decker tour bus we could ride for 6 hours jumping off and on whenever we chose. The narrator on the bus gave a brief history and summary of each location along the way. This was a great and economical way to tour Santiago - a clean modern city.

The next morning we took the metro, early 6:45, to the other side of the city where we boarded a bus for a 90 minute ride to the port town of Valparaiso, a UNESCO site, thinking we would explore the town on our own. Well, that was a total misconception! This town is built on 33 hills and the bus dropped us off at the edge of town! We joined a tour group consisting of a German tour guide, a family of 6 from southern Chile and Tupi, a 22 year old Brazilian student from North Eastern Brazil. He had been studying in Australia and knew every English slang word, believe me! We all climbed into the minibus and were driven all over the city with several 20 to 30 minute stops, listening to our German tour guide tell us the history of the town in Spanish and English with a German accent. Tupi’s, his nickname, dad is a Tupi Indian and cattleman and he hung out with us most of the day. We think he wanted to practice his English! Not only did we learn about Valparaiso but Brazil thru the eyes of this very intelligent Brazilian native. A long day but a fun and rewarding one.

On our last day we visited Santa Lucia, where the city of Santiago was founded in 1541. This monument sits on a hill and is built around a sculpture of the God Neptune with curved stairways, fountains and a spacious terrace crowned by a dome.

Next destination - Guayaquil, Ecuador!

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