January 2023

Buenos Dias Amigo from South America. We spent a week in Santiago exploring the local sites and bites. January-March are summer season in Santiago so school is out and many have vacated the heat of the city for the cool temps at the coast. The day temperatures are in the high 80-90sF and evenings are pleasant in the 70sF.

Santiago, the capital and largest city of Chile, faces the Andes Mountains to the east. It’s cosmopolitan and enjoyable. The city is well established with tree lined streets and a mix of old and new architecture. Murals are everywhere you look, everywhere. We stayed in the Vitacura area, our favorite, and found the shops and restaurants over the top. We liked walking to dinner from our hotel around 8 pm after temperature dropped. Simple and charming.

View from our Vitacura hotel room. Hola Andes!

English language is not that common so a little Spanish is very helpful. The mobile service was spotty and quick to drop off for us, though it is supposed to be well established with 5G speeds. Restaurant menus are commonly available with mobile phone and QR code, sometimes English versions are available. After a couple of meals that were slightly oversized, we got the hang of it and ordered appropriately and ate well. Google translator can be helpful.

We took long walks in the day to explore and by afternoon the heat had us sagging and dragging. When in Chile, siesta.

Out and about in Vitacura…

We took day trips to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar which are coastal towns. Nice, but no photos because I did not load my camera battery. Beautiful, you’ll have to trust me on this.

We drove to La Parva, a local ski town that is popular with skiers in the winter and mountain bikers in the summer.

We spent a day touring Bellavista and San Cristobal hill. The views from San Cristobal were lovely and Bellavista is gritty, bohemian and popular with the younger crowd for night life.

Anthony Bourdain made Fluent Alemana restaurant and El Lomito sandwich very popular.

Mote con Huesellias is a traditional, ice-cold drink often sold in street stands that consists of a sweet nectar-like liquid made with peaches (huesillo) cooked is water with sugar and cinnamon, with cooked  wheat berries (mote). Refreshing and sweet.

On our final day we explored the downtown/Plaza de Armas.

Adiós por Ahora,

Brian and Betty