Aconcagua Apart Hotel Santiago

... Chile!! Okay, its Sunday evening but at least something must be open?? Well after 35 minutes we found the strangest place on earth! A "Viking type" of restaurant.???!! I kid you not, the waiters were all dressed up ( or down ) as Vikings! The restaurant looked like a Viking place with all kinds of replica masks and stuff. Really the strangest place to be, in Chile!!

Well a couple of beers and some starters and back to the hostel. Our first night was on the front side of ...

... Gelukkig ´s avonds wel in style afgesloten met Pisco Sours en Cuba libres.

Zaterdag zijn we naar de eerste spaanse nederzetting geweest. De spanjaarden hebben de stad ook gesticht wegens de strategische positie.
Tegen het einde van de middag ben ik met de bus naar Valparaiso gegaan een plaats aan de kust.

... cinema again. A short taxi from the hotel to the airport marked the end of our time in South America.

We'd heard bad things about the Santiago to Auckland flight so we were prepared for the worst, however much to our delight we had a really new plane with excellent entertainment and the flight was incrediblly smooth. Neither of us could quite get our heads around the fact that we lost a whole day flying... so don't expect a blog for Wednesday 16th.

... and pushed up that way. I skied a few yards, fell again, struggled to get up, and skied right back to the groomed slope. This was not, however, the first time I made a fool of myself today. I kept smirking at all the people who fell trying to get on this wierd T-bar lift. Of course, I fell and worse than many of them. If you have to get on one of these, don't try to sit down on the bar. You will fall.

The bus ...

... located on the main square in Santiago. A large palm tree filled square surrounded by colonial buildings, the Cathedral on one side, the old Presidential Palace on the other and cafés whose tables were full despite the cold weather. It was one of the best views of the trip from our bedroom window! Our final day was filled visiting the excellent Pre-Colombian Museum full of Inca, Mayan, Moche and Chimu treasures and 2 of the very worst art ...

... tour after our second day in Mendoza. For about $120 US for the two of us, with of course including Hutto´s new bargaining skills, we had an all day private tour to 4 wineries that included about 20 different wine tastings. It even included a 5 course meal that could have possibly been the best meal of my life paired with a particular wine for each course. The next day after we tried to walk off our wine headaches, we thought it might be a good ...

... as they came down. It was free though you couldn't really complain. Hannah met me downstairs at 9:30am and I had a cup of tea while she ate breakfast. We then spoke to Franseca on reception to see if we could book a city tour so that we could see some of the place. Hannah is only hear a couple of nights too so we thought we'd get chance to see the main things. We could only get on the tour at 2:50pm so we said we would go and do our own thing for the morning ...

... until 8 at night. I've been there when the babies wake up, and when they go to sleep. Last Thursday a new baby, "Juan" came, who had been left alone during a large portion of the day for several months while his parent worked. He is really independent and not nearly as clingy as the other babies. Yesterday after being at the hogar most of the day I had to make a trip to the doctor with one of the other babies. Apparently as soon as I ...

... lunch the last time we were here. We drove through the sand dune area - the refinery and power plant and then up and along the beach. We had a very nice lunch and then headed back - enjoying the coastal drive all the way back to Vina del Mar and then into Valparaiso. We stopped and saw the sea lions along the way - and wished that we had more time in this beautiful part of Chile. Next port of call - Arica, Chile - up along the Peruvian border.

... the city of Santiago must have prepared for our arrival. Upon reluctantly conceding that this spectacle was not intended for us, I felt light on my feet as the city of Santiago seemed to be singing out, "Bienvenida a Santiago!" The setting sun backlit the sky with a blurred palette of roses and aquas as the water and light danced in front of us. We made our way to the Bellavista area and ate at Azul Profundo on Calle ...