Hotel Riviera Santiago

... the city. There were no stand-out tours or activities, except powering through some excellent completos (delicious hot dogs smothered in tomatoes and guacamole) at a fabulously local place around the corner, but it was relaxing nonetheless and other than some attitude from the Chileans that contrasted strongly with our Bolivian hosts, it was a really relaxing stay. We debated going skiing but it was expensive and difficult to organise and with a possible risk of ...

... so to get there – the road was unbelievable & the views over the steep cliffs were sick!

Think we eventually reached our destination at about 2500m metres & i gotta say i was a little short of breath even from walking!

Got to the equipment cabin at about 9:30am & had to get fitted out there and wait for them to stop messing up our tickets & eventually get us to our 2 hour class at 11-1pm.

The 4 of us & 1 extra guy had an instructor to ...

... try shoving it in yer gob there's plenty of room" but I kept well buttoned lol. Gobby Guy left the table after the meal (probably to stuff his face in the kitchen). We sat for a while having some more drinks as one of the Kiwis got us all a cold beer from his room and Simon from New Zealand opened a bottle of his own wine for us. It was a really nice crown ones Gobby Guy had gone but then at about 12am me and Hannah hit the sack as we both had to be up early.

... hand signals at key moments ;) I'm told that this is a poorer area but that it is a safe area, to be honest after the initial surprise at the difference in way of life its not that different from any suburbs living standard wise. TV in most rooms ...

... streets in general south-west direction, going through Parque Forrestal, recharging with coffee in Emporio de las Rosas and arriving to Cerro Santa Lucia which was for me the most unlikely municipal park I have ever seen. To begin with, it is hard to believe in a mere existence of such a steep, rocky and incongrous outcrop in the midst of , generally, orderly and flat city. Then the footpaths. And the staircases. They went in all directions. They diverged ...

... was quick to point out that pinot noir is new to Chile and the winemakers are still assessing this fickle grape's future in Chile. From where I sat, glass in hand, smile smeared across my face, no apology was needed. FAVORITE RESTAURANT: Astrid y Gaston On two separate occasions, two different Santiago residents emphatically suggested I go to a Peruvian restaurant, Astrid y Gaston. Nestled under a canopy of the old trees, this ...

... aurinkoenergiaa varastoon. Meille on tullut tänne kommuuniin koiranpentu, Coca nimeltään. Mielettömän söpö ja ihana. Tosin hirmu villi ja uhmakas. On ihanaa kun se on täällä, mutta myös surullista. Talon emäntä toi koiran tänne, eikä sen jälkeen ole tehnyt juuri mitään sen kanssa. Koiralla ei ole kunnon emäntää tai isäntää, ja tuntuu että se on vähän eksyksissä. Minä ja Bobi ollaan lähes ainoat jotka sitä opettaa ja vie talon ulkopuolelle. Ja mäkin ...

... it was a bit bizarre, but also very romantic. This part of town reminded us of Italy!

The views from the top were great, there can´t be many cities with skyscrapers and also mountains quite so close to the centre?

You might have to look closely to see the ...