We arrived at the airport mid-afternoon into a tiny terminal with very little wait. Once again, I was unable to use my TSA pre-check as they said the name on my ticket was different from what is on my global entry card (middle name vs middle initial.) Interestingly, Kim's was the same way and she had no problem. Harumph.
We got to Houston without incident, then the flight was delayed. We were told it would be at least an hour due to a mechanical issue (which always makes me nervous then flying on the plane!) There was a little street taco place right across from our gate so we got one and a margarita. No sooner did we order, they started to board! Whoops!
We got our seats, got comfortable, picked movies we were interested in, and proceeded to stay awake for the remaining ten-ish hour flight. We arrived in Santiago at around 8:30 am completely bleary-eyed but excited!
Customs and immigration was the longest line we had ever seen! It wrapped around multiple times and was quite impressive. We did make it through finally and made our way out. We didn't see our driver with a sign so trekked to find an ATM to grab some cash. It limited us to 100k chilean pesos (around $140 USD). Then Kim wasn't able to get money out as for some reason her bank didn't translate to english at all and we couldn't figure it out. There were six options to choose from! We gave up and made our way back to the entry area where the drivers waited with signs, happy we got a driver and didn't have to convert money in our head as tired as we were. However, we realized that no driver had my name on the sign even after we wandered.
Finally someone approached us and said 'Are you Samantha Glauser'? YES! In business. The man walked us to our driver and expected a tip. I had no change and he gave me a small amount back, taking a hefty tip. The driver was wonder and with fairly good english pointed things out and gave us tips.
The place we are staying at is an apartment in a high-rise right in the Belles Artes district in downtown Santiago, just blocks from the city center. There is a doorman and he called the owner, and told us to wait and one of them was coming. We waited around 30 minutes and she arrives, speaking in rapid-fire spanish. We were glassy-eyed at this point and just couldn't translate. She went to get someone, who told us she was going to clean, but we could drop our bags and come back in an hour.
We walked down the street and found a coffee shop recommended by the other owner (whom I was conversing through AirBNB, where we found the place). It is called Colmado Coffee and Bakery, and is a five minute walk from the apartment. The coffee was great and we got a snack (I got eggs and tomatoes, and kim got an apple pastry with ice cream.) We stopped at the store in the building to get some snacks, breakfast foods and drinks and went back to the apartment. Right in front of the buiilding was a stray dog chomping on cheese someone tossed him. All of the strays seem like shepherd mixes and seem well fed.
They have several apartments in the building, and either the pictures were from another or they switched out the furniture. The futon in the living room was lumpy and the cover shredded. There is no corkscrew, no welcome basket, no paper towels and the sponge.. well, I'll leave that be.. things that we expected as essentials were to be provided. There is only one glass and all of the kitchen stuff is disgustingly dirty. And the sponge.. I'll leave that. So, we will go back to the store for sure! Additionally, there is a musty smell and my allergies are flaring.. this will be a challenge I think. We have the windows open and hoping it will help, along with a candle.
We're exhausted so going to nap a bit then head out and do an easy day. tomorrow we'll hit the town! We decided to check out the roof deck and saw some amazing views.
We decided to head out for a walk and went to Plaza de Armas, the community center of Santiago, then toured the Catedral Metropolitana right on the Plaza. It was built in the 18th century and was simply stunning, with a lot of different colored and patterned marble and stone, stained glass, statues and sculptures and some gorgeous woodwork. There was a protester in the Plaza, protesting the borders and calling for open immigration into Chile. There was a fairly strong police presence as well, and two on horseback. The Catedral is the headquarter of the Archdioces of Santiago and the central location for the Catholic Church here. There were a couple of other beautiful historical buildings right on the square, which made a beautiful juxtoposition with a modern glass skyscraper right behind.
We then walked around ten minutes to the Mercado Central. It was getting ready to close so much of the food was being moved. It is mostly a large fish market (which smelled lovely by the end of the day). We were told it's a big tourist trap and to avoid the restaurants, including El Galeon, the famous one there.
We walked back towards our apartment and stopped in a church right near our hotel called the Basilica de la Merced. It was brightly colored red and gold and nice on the inside, though not as large or exquisite as the Catedral. It was badly tagged on the outside which is quite sad. As we walked to our place there was a group filming a a lady wearing a black jacket that was very short and something lacy underneath doing a strange dance on the sidewalk. It went on for a while! One thing we are noticing is that people dress pretty conservatively here. And the concept of personal space is a little less than Kim and I would like!
The apartment owner gave us a neighborhood guide including a lot of restaurant recommendations. We're tired from the trip and not sleeping so decided to do a local restaurant. He recommended a chilean place called Sur Patagonico Restaurant. It was wonderful! It's in a cute little neighborhood called Larrastria. Typical Chilean food, and heavy on meet. My naturopath would be so happy as she's been pushing me to eat meat. I was probably 75% pescatarian (fish only.) We got pisco sours, a crab leg dish with onions and a wonderful broth, fresh baked bread, and a meat platter with three different kinds of steak, sausage and tomato and zucchini. Yum.. still getting used to eating meat but it was good. We decided to go for it and got dessert- creme brule and caramel 'pancakes' with vanilla ice cream, which turned out to be crepes. Yum! Only a ten minute walk from our place.. we'll go back!
We walked back to our hotel fat and happy. Trying to load pictures and we shall see if I'm successful. Having some connection issues with our phones, which is how we're taking our pictures . Many from today aren't loading.. yet. But they will!
ha! Very tired and surprised we made it to nine. Going tho finish this, try to add some shots, and sign off! woohoo.
