We landed in Santiago late at night and straight away we appreciated the modernity of the place: the motorway was immaculate, the road side clean, tidy and decorated with beautiful flower beds. The signage was modern, the road was light up! What a radical change between two neighbouring countries!!!
We settled at the Directors hotel in an area of Santiago called Vitacura. The first day we took a taxi to the centre, in the middle of the old city. The town is full of historical buildings, beautiful architecture. I loved the art museum which is a building copied from the Halles of Paris. The Plaza de Armas is full of beautiful old buildings, nearby is the Catedral Metropolitana, full of stunning paintings and sculptures and the magnificent Palacio de la Moneda. We walked in the little back streets of city, full of merchants selling cheap clothes and accessories. We walk through a little city park which was full of families with children as it was bank holiday that day where we found a beautiful and very expensive little French Cafe. We strolled through the art market as night fell and headed back to the hotel.
The second day we took the city bus, that took us all over the city, we find that these buses give you a good overview of the city as well as interesting commentaries. On our way to the bus stop we discovered the area of Vitacura, a gorgeous, very well off area full of trendy coffee shops, interior design and furniture shops, Designer fashion, etc. we felt like in Los Angeles as the roads were wide, the houses large and the front loan perfectly manicured. It was so confusing having moved front such extremes in less than 24h! How could 2 neighbouring countries can be so utterly different?
That day was very hot (we had gorgeous weather throughout although it is winter here), as the bus stopped in Bellavista, we decided to walk up Cerro San Cristóbal and trekked for 2h. Our lungs, still under the effect of living in high altitude for 10 days, were strong and we pretty much ran up the mountain. At the top we found ourselves in the city’s sports hubb where everyone is running, cycling just like in Hyde Park or Center Park! We took the famous vintage cable car down to , which was fun and saving a bit of the few precious hours left in Santiago. Here again, our stay felt far too short, once here we discovered that there is a million things to be done in the area and that the Chilian landscape is stunning. Again we promise ourselves to return to Chile to explore, one day, this gorgeous country.
A little tour around the World 