In Summary

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We learned a lot about the history of the countries we visited on this trip. This was due to us in part to the walking tours we took. The guides were very knowledgeable and enjoyed being able to share what they knew. Some of the guides we had have degrees in tourism and love the work they do.

We enjoyed the local food. We noticed the dinner hour is much later there. Most people don’t eat dinner until after 7 o’clock in the evening. Some of the restaurants open for lunch then close for a few hours and then open again in the late evening for dinner. Breakfast is not readily available. There are many cafes and pastry shops where people stop for a coffee and some type of roll or pastry. We found that the food is less expensive than at home.

The weather was beautiful with temperatures warmer than we expected. Since it’s spring time there we didn’t think it would reach the mid 80’s like it did.

We often found it difficult to cross the streets due to the heavy and fast traffic. The drivers certainly don’t give the pedestrians any consideration. Many people rode motorcycles which weave between the cars and lanes of traffic. The high volume of cars is due to the fact that Rio, Buenos Aires, and Santiago have populations of between five and seven million people.

Unlike Detroit these cities have no single home residences. Everybody lives in a high rise of some sort. The public transportation was very efficient. We were able to get around using the subway system as many residents do without any difficulty and very inexpensively. Both subways and buses use a type of card which you add money amounts on and use on either mode of transportation.

We found people to be friendly and helpful. We had many conversations with local people as we traveled about and exchanged information about them and us. They often had questions about life in America.

Every trip you take you learn how other people live. Now we know something about life in three South American countries. But wherever we go, no matter how long we stay, there is no place like home!

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