It's a bit Chile...

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  Santiago, Chile
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Dragged kicking and screaming out of our suite, we were given a fond farewell from Mercedes, the Guest Services Manager and, with promises to return to Buenos Aires, we bundled into a taxi and winged our way to the airport. Our driver had both a rabbit's foot and a rosary swinging from his rearview mirror and, given the state of his driving, this seemed a sensible precaution.To our surprise, we arrived at the airport safe and sound and before we knew it were aboard a two-hour LAN flight to Santiago.

Rabbit's foot and rosary

On our arrival, Santiago was veiled in a hazy mist that fell from the surrounding snow-capped mountains (either that or a fog from the fumes of traffic that clogged every artery into the city...) The Andes tower dramatically above the beige high-rises of Santiago, providing an intriguing juxtaposition of natural beauty and the purported aesthetics of seventies architecture. Not that we had time to consider this juxtaposition – our lives were too busy flashing before our eyes. Chilean drivers are no better than Argentines. Again, with more than a little surprise, we managed to arrive at our hotel unscathed.

Our room

The guidebooks warned us not to expect much from Santiago. However, today we spent a pleasant afternoon exploring the city. We caught the cheap and cheerful metro into town. We were anxious that the ticket people would not accept one of our 5,000 pesos notes and I berated Per for having withdrawn such vast amounts of cash. What if we got mugged? I wailed. Who in their right mind would accept such big notes? It was only halfway through the day we learnt that 5,000 pesos is only a fiver and we had, in total, withdrawn £10… Anyhoo, we wandered aimlessly though the more picturesque parts of Santiago befriending a class of enthusiastic school children (having lived in London too long, I was convinced they only wanted to happy-slap us), a pair of Chilean tourists, and a strange man from Puerto Natales. We also managed to interrupt two church services (no one seemed to mind) and climbed a beautiful hill which afforded even better views of the surrounding beige skyscrapers.

Somewhere in Santiago...

The Grand Hyatt here in Santiago is certainly a change from the Park Hyatt, frequented mainly by business travelers and tourist en route to elsewhere. Nevertheless it's great to stay somewhere new and its apparently the best hotel in the city. Our room, and the three-storey club lounge (where we indulge in very tasty – and free – food and drinks) also afford spectacular views of the Andes. Sadly, due to its Hitchcockian properties, I can’t recommend this hotel to mother - take a look at the photos…! Tomorrow, we’re taking a seven-hour bus ride to the wine district of Mendoza. Yes, seven hours. Apparently, it takes a stunning route though the Andes. As heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow, here’s hoping we can at least see through the windows…

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Don't look down!

Grand Hyatt

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