A Santiago snapshot....

Well I was nervously excited to board the flight to Santiago. But boredom on a 12 hour flight and the need to escape the hoards of colicky, whingey babies that they had surrounded me with meant that by the time we arrived I was ecstatic to be there!

I arrived mid afternoon and the rest of the day was a write off due to sleep deprivation! I found a channel that was re-running Friends, which was as much as I could cope with! Pringles from the mini bar was my dinner ( safe in the knowledge that no Expense claim fiasco, now known as "Pringlegate", would follow - phew!)

Day one involved a bit of hotel orientation, spa found, treatment booked, tour company found, tours booked, hotel shop found, postcards purchased! 

Then it was off on a city tour. They seem quite proud of being at the centre if an earthquake zone. In fact the strongest earthquake on record (bigger only than the Japanese one in 2011) was in Chile. Their last "big one" was 2010, and they seem positive that "big ones" only average one every 25 years! So make no plans to visit in 2035! 

There are only 14million living in Chile, and more than 40% of them live in Santiago, a city squished between the Andes and the coastal mountain range, although most if the time I have been here you couldn't really see the Andes because of the smog.

The city is really cosmopolitan, lots if greenery, lots of what you would expect in any other European city really. The jacaranda trees are in full bloom so there are purple splashes everywhere. And at the mall next to the hotel there were all the usual shops, Gap, Mango, Esprit, Ugg, Mulberry, Diesel, etc etc. and all as expensive as at home!

They are in the middle of voting for a new presidential candidate. The two remaining candidates are the only two women from the original 7, and Michelle Bachelet seems to be the favourite ( she has already held the office before). Outside the Presidential Palace it turned out I had just missed Rafa Nafal and Djokovitch, who were here for an exhibition match!

The local market was full if fruit, vegetables and fish! Cherries and nectarines are in season, so I bought some of both!

I also took a trip to Concha Y Toro, the prime vineyard of Chile. Listed on the stock exchange the company is one of the top 3 producers if wine in the world, and they are corporate sponsors of Man United! They actually harvest grapes in 3 places in Chile, as well as Argentina and USA. It was lovely to see the original house and some vines etc but to be honest most of it was all set up for the tourists. But hey they let me taste the wine! And they even let us into Castillero del Diablo - the wine cellar of the devil!!!

 

Today has really been about chillin' before my overnight flight to Bogota, and enjoying some peace and quiet before the next onslaught begins! So I have been baking in the sun and submitting to a pedicure etc!

So really I have barely scratched the surface of Santiago. What I have seen I have liked, and would feel confident coming back. My lack of Spanish has been an epic linguistic fail however, and I feel embarrassed by my lack of knowledge on that front. But I did manage to order a Pisco sour or two!