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“Checking out Santiago” |
On the 26th I had a city coach tour booked. My apartment in Santiago was right across the road from The Marriott where I was to be collected, so bright and early - 8am - I was there with bells on. The pickup tour, as the coach collected all the people, was a real good look around santiago. We met another bus at a meeting point outside the metropolitan park and all the city tour hopped on one bus and all the valparaiso tourists on another.
We had a really good group of people and a great tour guide. We did all the main sights of the city and had plenty of stops. The first sight was the Cerro Santa Lucia - Santa Lucia Hill, which was founded in 1541 by Pedro Valdiva as the beginning of the city. He chose this because of the views of the sourrounding area and the proximity to the river.
Next stop the city square, now called Plaza De Armes where we saw some lovely architecture and went into the Cathedral, which was simply fabulous.
We went onto Plaza De Monedas where the president carries out her duties. This was formerly Allende's Presidential Palace and when he was overthrown it was heavily bombed. It has now been restored and looks really lovely. Even had my photo taken with a guard.
the architecture here is not spanish at all. There were a lot of immigrants to Chile a 150 or so years ago from France and Italy when the grape crops failed and they came to start again here, The story goes that they had a profound influence over the style of the early architecture of the city. I say "the story goes" because that's what our guide told us and he was a real hard case so it all could be utter bollocks.
At the end of the tour at about 1 we ended up at the obligatory gift shop which I must saw would be one of the best I've been to...although I found a good one at The Marriott too later on...and I purchased one or two trinkets. we were also given a complimentary Pisco Sour upon our arrival there. Very clever this lot...give you alcohol and then send you shopping.
I was dropped back at the hotel they collected me from so i had a wander around. Dee and the rest were collecting me there but got lost, got late so in the end I went on anothe excursion of my own. I checked out all the facilities at the Marriott and found a nail bar so booked my nails in for the next day (was an OK job), and then checked Park araocho shopping mall out again to see if there was anything new since the week before. I really have managed to get around the place. I went to another mall where I bought Danica's christmas Present ( they gave us the wrong size) and exchanged her gift for the correct size. then back to my apartment, a wee siesta and hen over to the mall again where I sat at a coffee place in the courtyard in the beautiful sun and wrote my postcards. It was about 7pm by now and the mall showed no sign of closing or emptying out...they go til late in this place!!
dee and roberto were picking me up at 8.30 to go to Nano's for dinner and i sat ourside the apartment for an hour while they got complketely lost. Man the one way system is a sure way to confuse a tourist here. I was so tired that night that I almost fell asleap in my plate. anita had made simply delicious salmon for dinner and after that I was duly dropped back and I was almost sleeping in the lift.
The Next day I was at the nail place at 9am. the hirls there were really good value. we communicated with the dictionary and english songs that they knew. it was really quite hysterical. dee managed to track me down at the nail place to let me know that they would not be collecting me until 2.30 and not 12mid day so i made an executive decision and had my feet done as well.
By the time this was all done it was 12 so i got myself a cab and went to the Cementaria General - the main cemetary, which was a bit like Recoletta but not as ornate. However it was a pretty neat place to soend and hour wandering. it was laid out like streets and you could drive through. the stained glass was really beautiful and the memorial to the missing during Pinochets' rule was, I thought, very nice. My taxi driver waited for me while I wandered - probably thought I was nuts - and delivered me back to the mall where I wandered over the road to the apartment and arrived outside just as Nano pulled up to collect me...right on the dot of 2.30.
back to the house to wait for the others and then we set off for our next adventure...San Alfonso in Cayon de Maipo
previous travel blog entry
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