Santiago
Just think back to malls during the December rush to buy presents. Now imagine Marc and I weaving through the crowded mall on a Saturday afternoon trying with all our might not to knock down a Chilean with our 40 lb backpacks. That is how we arrived in Chile’s capital. There are 4 bus terminals and our bus pulled into the one connected to a mall. Our guidebook says not to miss mall culture in Chile and we certainly were a part of it at least for one afternoon.
The city was too big for us to just wander around looking for a hostel (our usual preference), so instead we started calling around until we found a place with a reasonable price. We stayed in the Barrio Brasil neighborhood at a place called San Patricio. We didn’t spend much time in the area but it appeared to be nice. Once settled we were out the door to see as much as we could in less than 24 hours (we needed to catch our Easter Island flight).
After a long search for an ATM (Recommendation: When the banks are closed one could find an ATM in any metro station. This tip would have saved us some hassle.) we took the metro to the Bellavista neighborhood for dinner. Marc is obsessed with empanadas so we tried a place that serves approximately 25 different types. We each ate two and were still a little hungry, and unsuccessfully attempted to find another empanada eatery. Instead, we indulged in another traditional Chilean street food – the completo - a hotdog smothered in guacamole and mayo. Once sufficiently full we walked up to a mirador in Parque Metropolitano for a beautiful 360 degree view of the city and then took the funicular down. The smart tourists rode the funicular up and walked down!
The following morning we tried to make the most of our remaining time. We heard that the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino was excellent and didn’t want to miss it. On our way over we heard a band playing and searched for the origin of the music. We stumbled upon the changing of the guard in front of the Palacio, listened to the band, and then watched the guard change ceremony. After some more wandering and a brief stop in a “legs cafe” (where coffee is served by female staff in VERY short skirts) we made it to the museum, which turned out to be free on Sundays! Both us really enjoyed it since we had been to many of the sites, especially in Peru, and could actually recognize which civilizations made some of the ceramic pieces and jewelry. Once we were sufficiently educated on pre-columbian art history we made our way to the fish market for one of our few restaurant meals in Chile.
We continued to explore the city but lost track of time. In order to catch the shuttle to the airport we ran across the Barrio Brasil neighborhood with all our packs and made it to the bus office with two minutes to spare. Once at the airport we ran into some confusion about our flight. Just to set the record straight, for an Easter Island flight you check in in the international line but then proceed to domestic security checkpoint. A fellow traveler attempted to help us out but only had one half of the equation correct which resulted in some confused immigration agents, one of whom was an inch away from giving me a Chilean exit stamp before he awoke from his daydream. After the stress test running around the airport we eventually arrived at our gate with plenty of time to spare.
Lodging: San Patricio
