Santiago
Trip Start
Oct 30, 2005
1
119
122
Trip End
Ongoing
Santiago,
Chile
Sunday, August 27, 2006
We then went to collect our bags, and waited and waited, they never showed up. We were then assured by an official that our bags had been checked through to Sydney (even though we didn't know if we were confirmed on the flight ourselves!). So our next stop was to the airline to find out if we were in fact on the flight, and she assured us that we were and we had nothing to worry about, phew!
After putting some of our stuff into storage and getting some pesos in our pocket we were finally out of the airport and on a local bus to the centre of Santiago.
Santiago is a modern town compared to those we had previously experienced in South America. We felt safe here. We spent the day in the centre, walking through the main square and the surrounding streets watching street performers and young musicians complete with drums and cymbals attached to their arms and legs spinning around dancing while playing.
There was a market in the main square that day and we managed to find some odds and ends that we had not been able to get elsewhere. We also visited the main cathedral which was pretty grand.
One bad thing we did experience was lunch, the lovely chicken and chips standard again and itīs being nice to say that it was pretty average (the chips were the worst we have had on this trip!). It was time to get out of this area and see something else.
We walked to the central market which was mainly filled with fresh produce and seafood and then just kept walking to another part of town. It was a long walk, through beautiful parks, over the river - it was a raging torrent! and then over to the more arty area of Bellavista. Here were some more markets and streets filled with restaurants (hmmm... should have come here for lunch). Then after grabbing a quick bite for dinner it was time to make our way back to the bus for the airport.
To get back to the airport bus we needed to get the metro first. We got off at the right metro station but had no idea which direction to go to get to the bus so we asked one of the security guards at the station. He tried to explain to us where the bus was, but with our limited Spanish, he decided to show us. He left his post and walked us there. We could see a bus there waiting so thanked him, and ran towards it, catching it just before it departed.
We went to check in for our flight, and noticed the same problem we had earlier in the day in Lima - she was taking her time. We asked if there was a problem and she said, "no, not really", What do you mean not really?! "Well, youīre not showing up on the system" AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH! After a few phone calls and much time, she finally handed us our boarding passes, but not with the seats that we had reserved. Because we were not showing up in the system, she couldnīt give us our seats, although she did say that we could try again just before the flight. Oh well, at least we were on the flight and thatīs what mattered - it was a huge relief.
Just before the flight we managed to get our original seats and we were finally on our way home at last! Hang in there Dad!
