Portillo Hotel Las Condes

... Mar &#8211; Peruvian seafood restaurant in the Vitacura neighborhood. Great ceviches and tiraditos. <br><br>Ox &#8211; Steakhouse in the Vitacura area. <br><br>Soul of India &#8211; North Indian cuisine in the Vitacura area. There are only 2 indian restaurants in Santiago. The chef is actually Indian! If you don&#8217;t see it on the menu, ask and they ...

... was also mixed with a sad bitterness for the role that the United States played in the coup led by Pinochet. That bitterness is undeniably felt through out this country, and it is something that will always separate us from the Chilean friends we make here. We will make friends, and the leaders of this program have already proven to us how amiable and genuine the Chilean people are. However, I can't shake the feeling that I am an outsider in a nation that cannot help but view ...

... I wasn't about to ditch plans to study abroad, and I had already applied to ISA. I emailed them quickly with a desperate cry for reassurance as I asked them to change my application to a program in Valparaíso, Chile where all the classes would be taught in Spanish. Much better for my major and my conscience.<br><br> After months of paperwork, fingerprints, immunizations, applications, and appointments, I sat comfortably in my ...

... and the usual Catholic gawdy decorations. That night we hit the hostel bar with Lizzie and Chris and got a little too carried away with the obscenely cheap vodka and cokes! Was a very funny night making the next day not too great!! <br>After a great 4 days in Santiago we were ready to leave and very excited about travelling to the northern desert region of Chile.<br><br>Next stop: Atacama Desert !! <br><br>Lots of Love and hope you're all well xxx<br>

Sometimes when you arrive somewhere you kind of expect a bit of "culture shock" - after all whats the point in travelling if you don't get it. This is my first visit to South America, a whole new continent (apart from Antarctica the only one I hadn't already visited) and yet my initial impression was how easy everything is and frankly how similar. Still, theres time for that to change ! Las Condes were the hotel is situated is a fairly boring ...

... 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 ...

... to buy our cell phones, which was really difficult for us because the sales person was young, and the young people here are WAY harder to understand than older people... seriously, I don't see how THEY even understand each other... random whole syllables are left out of the middle and ends of words and they talk EXTREMELY fast... their brains work a lot faster than mine...

... Bolivia with a stop in San Pedro de Atacama. The last houses I had seen were either in salt or in adobe (dried mud). By the way SPA looks a little like those towns in old westerns, near the Mexican border. :) Arriving in Santiago, everything changes. The European influence, in particular French from the years 1900-1920 regarding the architecture, is obvious. Then there is a subway, and it's the same as the Paris Metro! The ...

... up to my room (most hostels only allow check in at 2pm) so was able to sort things out and have a shower. I met up with Wes, a friend from Bolivia days, and another friend of his Kate. We had a great day just catching up on news from the past few months, wandering around the city and then partaking in a glass or two of vino. Wes was most obliging when we got ...