Atacama Hostel Santiago

... The city is surrounded by both the Andes Mountains and the Cordillera de la Costa range, and the city itself is huge. Thanks to three decades of uninterrupted economic growth Santiago is one of the most modern cities in South America and home to the majority of the population in Chile. This has meant, for the first time on this trip, a 21st century transportation system that includes an airport bus and wait for it, a subway system! This was much needed for Renee and ...

Santiago<br><br>Für Santiago hatte ich definitiv zu wenig Zeit.<br>Die Fahrt von Mendoza durch die Anden vorbei an Skigebieten (noch in Betrieb) mit kurzem Blick auf den höchsten Berg Südamerikas (Aconcagua) und dann von schneebedeckten Höhen wieder in den warmen Frühling war sehr gut. Da fährt man auch mal am Tag, wegen de Aussicht. Abends in Santiago angekommen war es schon ein wenig dunkel, aber im Hostel brannte noch Licht.<br>Gewohnt habe ich in einem Viertel mit ...

... asleep as is his normal routine. We had a nice meal in the same restaurant as the night before, returned to the hostel and watched a couple of movies.<br><br>Surprisingly nobody fell asleep through either of them.<br><br>Then to bed, a rather unproductive day!

2nd May 2009 We depart Easter Island today and fly to Santiago. Our flight is at 12.50pm and as it is a domestic flight, check in is only 2hours before. We got up and finished off our packing before having breakfast and then leaving for the airport. We landed in Santiago around 7pm and then paid for a taxi to the hostel, arriving at 7.30pm. We checked in and showered before heading out for something to eat. Before leaving our room we locked everything away making sure ...

... which is all silty from way up in the Andes. We have a 9 hour (not including time change of 3 hours) flight to LA where we have a layover of 5 hours. We have rented a car and will be going to the La Brea tar pits and possibly lunch (In-n-out burger anyone?). We will land in PDX at 7:30 pm...yeah! Thanks everyone for reading and i will post pix of our stop in LA!

... Historico National was an experience. It documents a span of the area´s history, from pre-columbian times up until 11th September 1973 when the facist General Pinochet seized power. Most pointient was the final display; half a frame of Salvador Allende´s glasses, the lens broken and still covered with dark gunpowder. The exhibit´s abrupt ending was a reflection of another country still coming to terms with it´s past ...

... with its inevitable Cathedral, fountain and small park. Yet, there was quite a bit of unusual there. The fountain was full of splashing children, nearby stood a big gazebo with rows of chess players and right in front of Cathedral doors' gathered a large crowd. Waiting for a mass? Watching folk dance? Nuh, betting and invariably losing their money in the ancient street game of cups with immortal virtuoso cup shuffler, his invisible helpers in the crowd and ...

... is hidden amidst a residential street. The restaurant facade is littered with private drivers and dark, expensive cars, suggesting something delicioso or mafioso. Luckily, this restaurant proved to house the former. The two leveled modern restaurant has brightly-colored Peruvian textiles adorning the walls with only a glass wall separating the dining room from the kitchen. We ordered Octopus with a Potato Foam (pulpo ...