Santiago, Chile

We woke up early this morning to join a 10am walking tour ‘Off the beaten track Santiago’ offered by Tour4Tips. This was a wonderful tour that took us through all the markets, the old historic sector of the city and Cementerio General de Santiago. In the market we bought a kilo of fresh strawberries for $2 and received a sample of a delicious deep fried pumpkin treat. To cap of the walk off our guide gave us a glass of the infamous Terremotto ‘Earthquake’ drink which is made of cheap wine, grenadine and pineapple ice cream. Boy was it sweet! Why is it call the Earthquake….because when you stand up after drinking it you feel the earth shake.

After the tour we made our way to the San Cristobal Park to see the Virgin Mary which lays at the top of the park on a hill overlooking the city. This was ~2 hour return hike up a meandering trail through forested areas which gave us panoramic views of the city from top. Afterwards we headed to a 2nd park called Santa Lucia which was noted in our guide book to be known for its beauty. It is actually the grounds of an old fortress and was very interesting to explore. We also found out this is the ‘make-out’ park as there were many couples rolling around in the grass completely oblivious to everyone walking around. What a great day in Santiago! It exceeded our expectations, if only we could stay a bit longer. The next few hours were spent wandering through a neighborhood called Bellavista which is considered a really ‘hip’ area and is where students hang out as there are 2 universities nearby. We picked a local bar to drink some cheap beer on a patio and have a bite to eat as we spent our last pesos.Read more