An unexpectedly nice place...

Our flight to the other side of the continent was uneventful, saying good bye to the sun was very difficult that´s for sure!!

Plaza de Armas Santiago

Santiago, the capital of Chile, has been unexpectedly nice. We had read that this city was not much to look at. Well, we´ve had a really great time here, mostly because it feels safe.

We had a bit of a wander around and noticed that there wasn´t that many people about, until we got to an excellent little coffee shop and asked where everyone was. Apparently it was a public holiday, so no-one was working. We got to walk the city almost as a ghost town. Even though there was not many people around, it still felt safe with nobody harrassing you or trying to sell you something or get money off you. Normal life again!!

One dollar icecream. Too much even for Chrissy!!

Admittedly, there aren´t a lot of sights to see, however each neighbourhood has its own feel and flair. We are staying in a lovely suburb called Bellavista, which is an arty suburb with a Bohemian feel. It contains one of the cities Universities and has lots of restaurants and bars. The people are cool and very friendly. We´ve had a couple of nice bottles of wine with our meals and the food is very well priced and great quality.

From here we are heading to Pucon on an overnight bus, where we will try and climb Volcan Villarica in a couple of days if everything works out weather wise.

Will write when we can as we expect to be on the move quite a lot over the next few weeks, so may not be able to update often.

Till then ....xx

written by

chrishoorweg on October 31, 2007 from Santiago, Chile

from the travel blog: and one last trip before we come home.........?

tagged Santiago

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sounds like you are having an amazing time! Can't wait to see your hiking adventures down south....

Totally understand what you mean about Santiago - we felt very safe there and had some amazing meals there - Barrio Bellavista and Larrista had some amazing restaurants and very cool bars.... suffice to say every night we were in Santiago pretty much ended in me swaggering home & Andy having to deal with me trying to sing in Spanish.

Not sure if you had a chance to check out the Pre-colombino museum, we thought it was definately a highlight - just very well set up and the collections were great with great explanations etc....

Love to you guys,
Keep living the dream
C & A *

written by Cath Collins on November 2, 2007

Hiya C&C - Glad to hear you enjoyed Santiago. I thought the same as you when I went there. Vina del Mar and Valparaiso (about 3hrs away, on the coast) are interesting - the latter being where Che Guevera found out his girl had left him. Very Bohemian. Totally enjoyed Chile - hope you are too. Keep safe. Sully.

written by Mark Sullivan on November 7, 2007

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