Cerro Los Maitenes

Our hosts joined us for the day and we headed off to Los Dominicos. It's called 'pueblito', little town, and still seems a bit that way despite being absorbed by the edge of Santiago's sprawl. There are some beautiful old buildings and dozens of little shops selling all kinds of strange things perfect for souvenir hunters.
We bought a few little things including some Chilean paprika type stuff which we later mixed with salt and coated the rims of our beer glasses with, as per Cami's instructions. She assured us that it is typically Chilean, called Michelada, it's certainly strange to have spicy beer but not completely terrible!
Another local speciality is Mote con Huesillos, which we tried later at the city's biggest park. This one really is weird, some kind of juicy stuff with a dried apricot floating around in it and a layer of wheat at the bottom which you eat with a spoon, an interesting experience.
In the park is funincular which we (very bravely) took up the hill. It is very long and steep but the views over the city are amazing. At the top we found a huge Virgin Mary statue and lots of concrete crosses painted in bright colours.Read more