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Wanting to DIE
Entry 8 of 8 | show all | print this entry |
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My night in Santiago left me with--pathetically-my first major hangover ever on the morning of Friday, May 2nd. Having gone to bed feeling just ticketyboo, I was a little astonished to wake up feeling like I'd just travelled thru time on the floor of a New York City taxi. It took a few hours and dry heaves to shake, but I eventually recovered some 12 hours later. I only wish I was exaggerating.
The nice people at the Hotel Montecarlo in Santiago were nice enough to let me stay a little later than usual for checkout time while I got my act together and showered and packed. My next stop was Viña del Mar, on the Pacific Coast. It was a mere 2 hours away by bus, costing less than $7 to get there. The same distance in Canada would cost about $60 and take 4 hours.
Getting to the bus terminal was soooooooo easy compared to how I expected it to be. I wanted to take a cab but couldn't because of a parade going on. I headed down into the Santiago subway expecting the worst and found the biggest, cleanest, fastest subway ever! A few stops later and I walked right into the bus terminal and bought my ticket without ever having to grace sunlight.
The scenery along the way was pretty unremarkable--desert mostly, cactuses here and there, a few dingy-looking towns with rundown buildings, a few here and there a bit nicer looking. My first glimpse of the coast was as we descended from a series of hills that surround both Viña and its tougher, meaner, uglier sister-city Valparaiso. I avoided Valparaiso entirely because I heard it was a tough town, but in retrospect it probably would have been fine.
I caught a cab to my hotel, the Hotel Andelué, which was conveniently located right downtown and mere minutes from the beach and boardwalk. It was 5ish when I arrived and I was still feeling the effects of my night out the night before so I took it easy for a bit.
As the sunset gloriously I took the my constitutional around the city, walking up the boardwalk and getting my first feel for Viña.
The hotel was nice--for about $70 USD a night I got a good-sized room with a MASSIVE King-size bed. The bathroom was big and comfortable, nicely kept and clean. I even had cable TV showing odd Spanish versions of Canadian cable channels like MuchMusic and Bravo. It was odd but comforting.
That night for dinner I found an amazing restaurant up the street from my hotel on 1er Poniente and had this incredible tilapia dish with creamed spinach...it was hands-down one of the best meals I've ever had. It was the first time that I'd ever discovered a new restaurant by myself and unabashedly sat alone and just enjoyed the ambience--it was very, very delightful.
Still tuckered, I allowed myself an early night and headed back to my hotel for some much sought catch-up sleep.
Where I stayed:
Hotel Andelue
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