Chile Diaries, pt1 - Santiago.

Patagonia, Chile.

Day 1.

Sunny morning in late November, I stepped onto Chilean soil. Well, asphalt of Santiago to be precise. I knew it will be epic trip, I knew I will be covering a lot of grounds - one thing I did not know, that I am going to fall in love with this country.

Flight was an easy 10hr, and I even managed to nap a bit. 

LAN planes are rather nice! B787 8 is huge, new and well equipped. Real ceramic plates and silverware, touchscreen personal entertainment systems with charge ports, touchless everything in bathrooms. Very pleasant service as well.

Waited for luggage - darn 8kg limit on carry-ons! - run straight to Custodia, located all the way at the end of the first floor. With small bag storage at only $5, it's a sweet way to go see Santiago between the flights!

Ignore the annoying taxi drivers unless you pressed on time. Bus ride is cheap and pretty fast, only 35 min to Los Heros. 1350 Chilean pesos, not bad for AC, soft seats bus.

Santiago suburbs remind me of my home town a bit, there are simple houses, bus stops, little markets, nothing rich and flashy. Once you get closer to center, you see more stores and cafés, but it still very humble.

Classic Santiago.

With only 5 hrs till next flight, Los Heros and Plaza de Armas was goal for the day.
Plaza de Armas is relaxing. Old and new coexists here in architecture, and it is nice to sit on one of the benches and inhale the scent of flowers on spring day. 

There are some kind of purple trees in bloom all over Santiago, they are beautifully hazy and smell heavenly. I am a little surprised by the scent of flowers in the city, but it is a pleasant surprise. I love it.

Walk a bit around on pedestrian streets, they are nice!

Local streets of Santiago.

While wandering around, one can run into some protest demonstration, and could not get to Blue jar for lunch as planned (pfft!), but fear not, there are so many places to eat here. Already tired, I stumbled into Pan y Cebolla for pre-fixe (4900 pesos) lunch.

Nobody here speaks English, but with few Spanish words and hand language everyone can manage... Started with hot bread and herb mayo, simple salata, and pasta with mushrooms for main course. Delicious. Even juice (strawberry - so fresh!) and dessert (flan) was included.

Santiago architecture.

Temperature warmed up from 15C in the morning to 32C at noon, but it does not feel as hot as NY due to low humidity. It is still spring, tho, it will get hotter.

Across the Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, to Universitat area, walk thru crowds of students at lunch. Completos here are a steal if you want quick snack, 500 pesos! Completos are local thing - it's a hot dog topped with EVERYTHING. I mean it. Must. Have.

Street art in Universitat area.

5pm, back to aeropuerto... Not much to do here, but I had a beer since I needed to unwind a bit.

Next stop - Easter Island!