Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 3

We had a great day today in Chile! This morning we were picked up at our apartment by Hector, our driver, and Francisco ("call me Frank"). There were six people already on board and we stopped to pick up four more tourists. They were from England, Toronto, Australia, and Switzerland. Frank did a superb job of guiding us around and giving us so much background, history and just fun facts about Chile. Hector did an outstanding job of driving us around since in the city many of the traffic signals are torn down or nonfunctional because of the demonstrations. He maneuvered around very well. On the road we made a stop to enjoy a chicha, which is a Chilean drink and a caramel like dessert. Both were quite good. Our first destination was Valparaiso , Chile. ... read more

Moved on to country number three this morning. We are now in Santiago, Chile. As the plane was approaching Chile the pilot made everyone aware of the beautiful site as we were nearing the Andes Mountains. That's the only snow we will see on this trip. It was a site to behold. Getting through Customs here was very quick as not many "foreigners" were coming in on this plane. The flight was full with citizens of Chile. We arranged our transportation to the apartment where we will be staying and got on the road with a few other tourists. One couple was staying near the airport so no issues there. Three other girls were staying near the government buildings. Little did we know it was a National Strike Day here in Santiago. The driver couldn't,t get ... read more

Hats off to Air France for a fab flight...great selection of films (I watched The Favourite and Rocketman), delicious aeroplane food (yes, really...and champagne!) and most importantly, we got there safely. Arrived to find Santiago in a state of emergency. The taxi driver described the previous night as a war zone. Protests over increases in metro fares sparked military intervention and he said about 300 arrests. At the hotel, the owner had prepared a letter advising guests to stay in the area (Barrio Italia), although she said it would be fine to go out for a wander, giving us a map and some routes. Casasur Charming Hotel is a gorgeous boutique hotel where we got a warm welcome, coffee and lots of helpful advice before heading out to explore. We aimed for the Mercado Central and ... read more

Let’s all be honest with ourselves here. Traveling just about anywhere with two young children, is not well, exactly enjoyable. Like, don’t get me wrong, it is fun (usually) once you get to wherever you are going, but the process of first preparing, and then doing the actual traveling to get to your destination can be an anxiety wracked process. It can feel like you are preparing to execute a major military operation (bags, rations, timetables, maps, contingency plans) and when you cross that startline and jump out the trenches, you sure as hell better be prepared for sh*t to hit the fan soldier! Consequently, we went on our first Chilean ski vacation up to the Andes a few weeks ago. It was random “Chilean holiday day off in the middle of the week” week (i.e. ... read more

It’s our last day in Chile and we’re going to Cerro San Cristobal; a park on a hill on the edge of the city reached by a funicular railway. First, breakfast from the mini market over the road. The old man buys a cake tossed in a thick coating of icing sugar and coconut. He puts it into a bag, then picks the bag up by the wrong end. The cake falls, he executes a miraculous catch, saving the cake and covering the next lady in the queue in sugar and coconut. After we’ve finished juggling/eating breakfast, we walk to the funicular which operates from its own castle and takes you 500m up the hill for great views over the city. You can then climb past a series of decorated crosses to a 22m high statue ... read more