At Home Santiago

... cousin years ago to Lima and Peru and some other " obscure" places, until they were robbed and some " obscure" Italians helped them. ( a story that I never got the better off.!! ) I had been to Brasil many times as my father lived there for 5 odd years. Been once to Argentina and even visited the " Foz di Igauczu " the biggest waterfall in the world and between Brasil, Argentina and Paraguay I think. Been to Trinidad and Tobago and French Guyana as my father was there too ...

Beste mensen,

Vrijdag en zaterdag heb ik een prive tour door Santiago gehad. Erg leuk om zo een stad te bekijken. Het weer viel alleen een beetje tegen. Eerst de heuvel San Cristobal bekeken (870m) met mooi uitzicht over Santiago. Daarna gegeten bij een indoor vismarkt. En zelfs een museum in geweest, Belles ...

Well it certainly has been a WHILE since my last proper blogs.... from what i recall- marvelling at the brazilian joie de vivre and my "spanish apartment".... Spanish apartment didnt last very long- as i found out pretty quickly. It might be a romantic thought to live out a movie, but the reality of living with 13 people in a grotty house where heaters are banned because it uses up too much electricity, with 5 french chain smokers and relentless drunken parties every night (which included ...

... first stop was Cerro Santa Lucia (cerro means "hill", by the way. I should have clarified earlier.) I knew that the sun and recent rain would make for a great view of the Andes and Santa Lucia is known for its views of the city. It's a small but beautifully landscaped hill right in the middle of downtown. They've built charming gardens and fountains along with stone staircases all over the hill. When you get ...

... 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 ...

... We left the house at 9am and got into a ´colectivo´which is a taxi that collects bunches of strangers who are going in the same direction on a set route and charges a standard rate. 500pesos each and we were set down right near the school. There were plenty of new students milling around in the foyer with the admin girl encouraging us all to ´talk talk!´. No one took her advice though. The teachers came out and called out ...

... do it by car, its a cool and different way of knowing the city. Had a coffee, had a wander around, couple of pictures and then came back down. Afterwards headedto Viña for lunch. Took us a long time to get there. Apparently the socialist presidents (including the British Prime Minister) where in a meeting in Viña and loads of roads were closed so that made it about two hours in the car. Anyway we finally managed to see why Viña is so well known. It has beautiful beaches ...

... beginers and a little scared......apart from Colin. The ride was spectacular......views all around of lakes and volcanos. Colin had a horse with a mind of its own but took control...... eventually.....its name was Toplicalla translated as stroppy mare. At one point cantering and galloping was offered with 2 mins of instruction for us beginers......Kim opted out, and struggled to keep her horse in check as it circled and bucked.....Colin ...

February 16-17: So, we arrived in Santiago by bus early on the morning of Feb. 16... then grabbed a cab to our hostel, where we quickly washed up and headed out to check out the city before it was time to check in. Our hostel was in Barrio Brasil just west of the historic district of Santiago's Centro... Neat little artsy area very close to a metro stop... we oriented ...

... Santiago, tout change. L'influence européenne, en particulier française et en particulier en termes d'architecture, dans les années 1900-1920, est flagrante. Ensuite, il y a un métro, et c'est le même qu'à Paris! Les rames sont fabriquées par Alsthom, c'est la même sonnerie, et c'est même la même odeur... :) Et pour finir, il y a plein de voitures françaises dans les rues, en particulier des Peugeot, mais j'ai vu quelques ...