We arrived at our abode, the Hotel Angamos, at five in the morning from the airport and were welcomed in by the cute old man who runs it with his son. The hotel was a real find…about half the price of a hostel bed for a double ensuite room with breakfast, which consists of fresh bread, homemade jam and coffee. It is not a high spec sort of place and is a little chilly (boo boom), but is perfect if you are on a budget…the location is very central. Once we woke up around midday, we went off to explore the city. With the spring sunshine on our backs and bright blue skies, it was a real pleasure just walking and walking without a map, seeing what we would discover. Wow, I love Santiago…lots of beautiful buildings left by the Spanish, big parks, clean streets, amazing metro network and the best thing…360 degree views of the snow capped Andes, reminding you that not only are you in a cosmopolitan city, but also very close to fun activities, like SKIING. We had arrived in Chile for their Independence Day celebrations, so in the evening, Mark and I went to one of the parks to soak up the festive atmosphere and try some local delicacies, which was fun.
The following day we hopped on one of the sightseeing buses to see some more of the city. We found the shopping plaza, where we booked a cheeky ski trip for Monday (whoop woo), and then walked around the old town in the afternoon enjoying the singing, dancing and general fun atmosphere that comes with a national holiday weekend. We also visited the Museum of National History, which was very interesting, as well as the Museum of Fine Art, which has some lovely sculptures. Climbing up the hill to the small fort provided an excellent view of the city and mountains at sunset. After all the walking Mark and I were starving and lucky enough to come across a restaurant, which was amazing. All decked out in wood, with lots of quirky pictures, it had a warm chalet feeling with homemade smells coming from the kitchen and an amazing wine rack that reached right up to the high ceiling…probably over a thousand bottles of Chile’s finest. I had the venison steak with a courgette and goats cheese tower…health health health but AMAZING …every mouthful was heaven. Mark had a good ol’fashioned steak all washed down with some delicious Chilean red wine so we were in food nirvana.
Needing to burn off some calories, we headed to Valle Nevada, a ski resort only 40kms from the Santiago. The road is impressive, long and winding with sheer drops. The terrain is beautiful, sometimes reminiscent of the Grand Canyon before the snowline begins. The skiing did not disappoint, despite being late in the season…there was not too much ice and definitely enough runs to play for the day. I would say that the resort & runs are too small for a week but perfect for a few days & having missed out on the season in Europe (poor us, we’ve had such a hard year), it was a pleasure & a real treat to be skiing. The fog descended around 4pm so Mark and I had to blindly find our way back to the resort. It also made the trip down the mountain in the bus interesting with only 3m visibility, but in some ways it is quite nice not to see the sheer drops. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. On a real high from skiing and nicely tired, we feasted on miso soup, sushi and green tea before hitting the sack.
On our last day, we visited more museums and went to another great restaurant called xx which is a 1960s style city bar with simple but deliciously done food (mark was drooling over his steak) & again, an impressive wine list. We had a quick bite, and then headed off to the Tur Bus station to catch our night ride to Pucon. Big thumbs up for Santiago and what a great introduction to Chile…could potentially rate as one of my favourite countries so far…we will see…JG
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