-Colin and I took the overnight bus from Pucon to Santiago and after 10 hours, we arrived at 7am. It wasn´t as bad as I would have expected…but it was a long bus. We made it to our hostel after a little trouble in a cab. It was hard to find the street numbers and there was no sign out front plus it was still dark….but we finally found it and were able to settle into the common areas, catch up on email and then have the famous hostel breakfast of pancakes. What a treat! We got banana and apple pancakes and even had Safeway brand maple syrup (as the hostel owner was original from outside San Francisco, in Pacifica) and used to work for Safeway and loved that syrup. Random…but interesting and we looked forward to breakfast at the hostel each morning.
-As it was Sunday morning at 9am, we couldn´t check in to our room and decided to head out to see something….but we knew most things would be closed as people in South America really rest on Sunday´s. We still wandered the streets and came to the Plaza de Armas which is a famous square. Out front we saw some demonstrations with women dressed in white mourning missing loved ones, then we saw more angry women that were yelling in Spanish and breaking plates on the ground as the police looked on to make sure it was peaceful. No idea what was happening, but it was fun to watch. We also went into the big church and got to sit down for part of the service…so we were good and went to church on Sunday! I really liked the architecture as it was full of arches and murals on the ceilings and walls and it reminded me of the Sistine chapel.
-We wandered the streets a little more to see some of the judicial buildings (more of Colin´s thing, but they were still interesting to see). More churches as we looked for Basilica de la Merced, which was a beautiful red and yellow church and inside there was a little piece of wood from Jesus´s original cross (so they say…). When we entered, there was another church service going on, so I can say I went to church twice on a single Sunday!
-Later that night, we wandered over to the Barrio Bellavista. This was a funky little neighborhood. We only walked on the main street and came across so many cafe´s, pubs and sidewalk watering holes. For a Sunday, we were shocked how so many people were out drinking liters of beers in the sun. So we decided to be like the locals and sat down. It was super cheap beer and we got some fun entertainment from a little boy with a drum. This little boy would spin round and round and play his drum and cymbal and worked up such a great sweat. I had to tip him as he was working hard and he even posed for a photo with me. After this, we had to check out a restaurant that my friend Amanda recommended called “Como Agua Para Chocolate” or Like Water For Chocolate. It was one of the best dinners and had a somewhat of a Mexican flavor which I loved. We were so stuffed, we couldn´t even do dessert and I was sad as they all sounded great. We said we would have to come back another night for dessert (and did the next night as we returned to the area). My tri colored chocolate mouse with raspberry was the house specialty and Colin got one huge dessert that was meant to share (but I didn´t want it as there was no chocolate) so he planned to eat some and save the rest…too bad it was forgotten in the hostel fridge when we flew to Easter Island…oh well.
-Our second full day in Santiago was spent exploring all the parks. We cruised through Cerro Santa Lucia, which was a beautiful park right in the middle of the city and it just kept going up and up into the hills with so many stairs. I was worried about slipping down as the rock stairs were so slippery and then I did slip and Colin let out a little chuckle…right before he slipped too (so it was funny for me). More wandering to great cafes (gotta love the executive prix fix lunches as we were stuffed on great food). After lunch, we were ready for a walk and we cruised more of Barrio Bellavista and just loved all the different colored buildings and I noted one side of the street was full of graffiti, but the other side had none. No idea why, but it was interesting. We wanted to get a good view of the city and took the funicular to the top of San Cristobal to see the large statue of the Virgin Mary. It´s close to the counter point in Rio de Janerio, but to me…it wasn´t as impressive or as big.
-After enjoying the views over Santiago…we decided to find another watering hole and found a liter of beer for 1,000 pesos ($1.50). Couldn´t believe how cheap it was and laughed when we learned the place was called “Aliens”. I had to give this place a thumbs up! After a couple of liters of beer, we were off to dinner and I was so excited as I saw a Thai place the night before and was dying for Thai or spicy food. We had to drink more beers at Aliens as dinner doesn´t open till 8 at the earliest…but when we got to the Thai place, it was closed (too bad as it was Monday as Thai is usually closed on Monday). So we found another place (middle eastern) and were seated right by this plaza where fortune tellers were working with anyone that walked up. It was such a weird scene to see Tarot cards and fortune tellers…but they were busy all night.
-My final desire for Santiago was going to the Concha y Toro winery. This would be the first time I could go to a winery by subway! Yes, we took 3 subways and then a taxi and were at the winery in an hour. Colin hasn´t even been to a winery or on a tour, so this would be a great treat for him…and I love this wine, so I wanted to see the grounds and learn more about the Carmenere wine that is only made in Chile. Ends up this grape varietal used to be in France only and then it disappeared and was later rediscovered in Chile. It´s similar to Merlot, but much better. The most famous wine that is exported is Castillo del Diablo…which has a fun legend. The wine used to age in the old cellar and then bottles would disappear, so the wine maker was telling the workers the devil must be taking it since it lives there and it was scary enough to the workers that another bottle never disappeared as no one wanted to mess with the devil. You can even see the devil watching over the bottles in one of my dusty bottle photos.
-Before we flew to Easter Island, we were able to cruise by the Presidential Palace and then over to the Central Market. I thought the Central Market would be more small stalls to browse and sample and maybe have lunch, but it ended up being a HUGE fish market…and the smell was overpowering. I will say, we saw some of the largest fish I have even seen. We decided not to stay for lunch as it was too overpowering in smell and just felt so touristy…so after I was craving salty french fries and a chicken sandwich…I dragged Colin to McDonald´s as I just wanted that. Sad and I rarely go to McDonald´s, but it just sounded so good and we needed something quick as we had a flight in a few hours.
-A great three days in Santiago and we planned to return after Easter Island. I want to see my friend Val who lives in Santiago, who I met in Egypt this summer, so we should meet up next week.
Logistics:
Hostel Sammy – this was ok overall (but great breakfast).
Great dinner at Como Agua Para Chocolate at www.comoaguaparachocolate.cl