Santiago

Friday 18th March 2011
Today was another travelling day and with our flight at 2pm, we really didn't have much of a chance to do anything else in Ecuador. We loved Ecuador but we were relieved to escape the humidity of Guayaquil.


Santiago airport was an absolute pleasure to travel through, the speed from touchdown to car being ridiculously short for a capital city.

Sunset in the sky.

We stayed in a lovely room in a gem of an area with peaceful cobbled streets and loads of character. Being just off the main street in downtown Santiago, it was perfect for our brief two-night stay.


Observation: at 11pm all cashpoints seem to be locked behind barriers, even those that claim to be 24 hour. Our tip: when in Santiago, get your money early.


Saturday 19th March 2011
After a spot of shopping in the morning (for trek stuff) we headed to an Irish bar to watch England vs. Ireland Six Nations match. Obviously the result was not favourable but it was interesting to see a real ex-pat community.

Leafy areas.

The bar was quite east of the centre so we decided to walk back to the middle along the Alameda, a big green section which runs for about 3km. Hector in Guayaquil told us we'd see lots of people kissing in Santiago and The Alameda was rife with them.


Close to the centre we walked up hill Cerro Santa Lucia, which gave great views over the city, but smog obscured views out to the mountains.



This must be fashion



When we got back to our hostel, it was clear we were in a popular wedding photo spot. The brides were draped over the bonnets of the cars, and it's fair to say the one on the Rolls Royce looked more beautiful than the the one on the Peugeot 207. At the same time, a model was being photographed up against a lamp post. She didn't look happy when her photographer started taking pictures of the bride instead.

For dinner we went to Venezia in the Bellavista area. At the bar, while enjoying a Pisco Sour, we met a lovely quarry miner who had been to London and Sheffield. He taught us names of a few local drinks including Fanschop (Fanta Orange shandy) and tincola (red wine and Coke). Both have yet to be tried.

When we finally got to dinner James had a great steak and we both enjoyed a huge plate of avocado which tasted better than any we've had before. Apparently avocado features heavily in Chilean cuisine and we can understand why.

After our meal we thought we'd get one last beer in on the way home. When our order of one large and one small beer turned up, we were slightly surprised when the large turned out to be a litre bottle (large is usually a 1/2 litre bottle). Luckily we managed to change our order in time.

We had a great day in Santiago. Rather than visit museums, we spent our time wandering around, people watching and generally  enjoying the modern feel of the city as as well as the lovely temperature.

 Observation: Prices are more expensive here than on our trip, almost up to UK levels for certain things. They do seem happy to give change though, and for that we were very thankful.

More beer.