Atton Las Condes Santiago

... there are always countless cheap places to eat and drink. And by cheap I mean "you sit outside on a plastic stool and buy the beer by the litre" kind of establishment. Due to it also being one of Santiago´s oldest areas however, the outside plastic bars were uniquely mixed with insanely expensive restaurants ("Some Sushi for $40US Sir?").<br><br>Having made it to our eighth country in South America we thought we´d celebrate so we dropped the bags off at the hostel and ...

Well. I have arrived. And now I know what Jet Lag feels like. Can´t say I am enjoying the experience. A few compulsary sit downs while attempting to find a) information and b) water were required!<br><br>And sorry family, but Vodafone appears NOT to work at Santiago Airport (found another Kiwi having the same technical difficulties) so I have purchased my way into the Pacific Club to use their internet. Hoping there is a shower in here ...

... an extra bottle of bubly to celebrate!<br><br>We decided to chill out for a few days before venturing on any further expeditions as we felt the last week or 2 in Peru had been pretty full-on with excursions and stuff. Plus we thought the coolest part of Chile is probably the south, and we will visit that in the first 4-week holiday to Argentina/Patagonia we can arrange after returning back to London (?!!). So what did we do in Chile? Well, just a number ...

... straight on the bottom bunk without hitting your head on the bed above.<br>The bathrooms were modern and clean and there was a great communal area in the basement consisting of a bar, dining area, kitchen with all possible appliances and lounge area with big TV, satellite TV and lots of DVD's.<br><br>After wondering around the city centre for a couple of hours and failing to find the natural history ...

... museum was free. The Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino was listed as a must-see but was not as we expected, we were led to believe that we would see mummies but were rather disappointed when we didn't see any. The museum was about pre-Columbian civilization throughout the Americas with ceramics and textiles. An Auntie Sandra museum. Afterwards we walked back towards the metro, stopping for lunch on the way. We then decided to go to the supermarket and do our food ...

... dann auch schon auf die Reise in Richtung Norden. San Pedro de Atacama heisst das Ziel. Die 24 stuendige Busfahrt kann man dank der superguten chilenischen Salon Carma Busse auch recht gut aushalten. Auf einem Display kann der Reisende sogar die gefahrne Geschwindigkeit ueberpruefen und es wird angezeigt welcher der beiden Fahrer gerade am Fahren ist und wie lang seine Lenkzeit schon dauert. Es lebe die Kontrolle!

... for its Mechada steaks, and we certainly weren´t dispointed! The meal was washed down with a fine bottle of Chilean wine, and a couple of award-winning beers from a local micro-brewery. The place was incredible. The food, drink, staff, music and decor were all top notch. The waiter told us Chis Martin had visited a couple of weeks before us. Maybe a more stringent door policy would make this the perfect restaurant.

... It was not worse, it's just that while having the similar facade and appearance, they have completely different souls. Bellavista was more introvert of sort - even bustling Pio Nono dead packed with nightlife (they did not start to serve dinners until 9pm or later and this is when they -started- to take orders) had an air of small provincial place where a party of bohemian students stopped for a short while to open the bottles and drink them for ...

... insisted. My fears were fortuitously dispelled upon my first sip. The wine tasted more like a cinsault with exuberant fruit (black cherry), lower tannins, a touch of black pepper and an unexpected softness that paired well with our seafood. The only clue I was drinking carignan was an ever so slight touch of burnt rubber, which was not prominent enough to be unpleasant, but rather add a touch of complexity. Ultimately, I enjoyed ...