Ola mi amigos!
Well we´re safely here in Chile, South America and so far have loved it.
We flew in on Tuesday after a pretty dire flight with no inflight entertainment and surly stewardesses! 11 hours of dullness. But when we arrived we caught a taxi into the centre of Santiago to our hostel which was really lovely and very welcoming. We were so tired we decided to sleep for the rest of the day and the night and explore the following day...
So day 1, we visited the main attractions of Santiago which include many splendid buildings and open plazas. We sampled empanadas and plenty of Chilean beer: Escudo! In the evening we joined in a BBQ at the hostel which involved plenty of chorizo, steak and chicken for Carl... and a salad roll for me! Oh well we enjoyed the free vino tinto and went to bed tipsy! Woke the next morning with a bad red wine hangover but pulled ourselves out of bed and went for another wander around the city. We climbed to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia where there are great views across the smog filled city and saw lots and lots of smooching couples at the top! We then caught the funicular to the very top of Cerro San Cristobal where we saw the Andes in the distance - spectacular. For dinner we found a lovely restaurant which served both steak and salmon, plus a glass of wine and beer all for 13 pounds. Everything here is so cheap.
We´re now in Valparaiso which is 2 hours north east of Santiago and is the cultural capital of Chile. Tomorrow we´ll explore the area properly and also visit the neighbouring town of Viña Del Mar. Tonight we´re off out for a dinner near the guesthouse we´re staying in. The accommodation is really lovely, in an old building with lots of antiques and exposed woodwork.
Our Spanish is coming along... We struggle a bit but reckon that after nearly 3 months we´ll be pretty good. Thank goodness for our phrasebook though!
Well, adios for now.
Team Haines xxx
