We spent four nights in the city of Santiago, a very urbanised concrete jungle surrounded by beautiful mountains looming over every horizon. A thick grey smog hangs over the city, clogging pores and noses alike, and stray dogs roam the streets looking for affection. Our first impressions of the city were fairly underwhelming, but as we spent our days getting lost in the winding roads and stumbling across more and more things to marvel at, we realised it is one of those places where the more you look, the more you see. The bellavista region in particular is funky and buzzing, with cafes and bars enticing you in with live music and vibrant street art on every corner. One of the most horrifically labelled buildings we came across - The Lady Di Unisex HairSalon. I kid you not. Picture to follow!
Forest Parks are dotted around the area, sections of worn green among a lot of grey, which seem to be inhabited by couples in every corner, bench and shady area - it would appear PDA is in fact encouraged over here! One of the main things to note about Santiago is the obvious contrasts, not only in the landscape, but the buildings also vary from 16th Century churches to glass and mirror fronted office towers. The wealth of the city is evident through its architecture and growing trades, but when walking through the Provedencia Region we were faced by a homeless man having hooked up his tv set to the wiring of a lampost next to a presedential statue. He was not only not phased by any of the passers by, but no one was phased by him either. We saw him every day we were there, and he remained completely unchallenged by all.
The highest point of the city is Cerro San Cristóbal, which has a marble statue of the Virgin Mary on top of it, somewhat resembling the Cristo Redentor of Brazil on a miniature scale. When we reached the top the views were spectacular, the contrast of the city which seems so big when you are on the ground with the ancient mountains dominating the landscape. Here we sampled a traditional Chilean drink, Mote con Huesillo (again, I wish I could upload my pictures, as the image really helps this one). It's a mixture of wheat and a syrupy fermented peach juice. Picture porridge oats with a thick syrup drink on top, and floating dried peaches. It looks bizzare, it tastes delicioso! So sickeningly sweet we could just about share one between us, but refreshing none the less.
The Hostel we stayed at was friendly and comfortable, and included free breakfast and dinner so encouraged a real family feel between all that passed through it. Some good friends were made over the nights we spent there; we hope to see some of those faces again! The weather is beautiful, we have been opening our advent calander for 4 days now, and are finding it so hard to believe it's December, and have found the depiction of Christmas over here is also snowy scenes - another example of how the western world is taking over everywhere, I doubt Santiago ever had a white Christmas!
So we left Santiago to follow the coast, and today arrived in Valparaiso. Watch this space...!
