After four or so weeks of travel, we reached our final destination – Santiago Chile. Getting there from Argentina was one of our few daytime flights and I’m so glad it worked out that way. Flying over the Andes was truly spectacular, with mountains all the way around us but flying so low and between mountain ridges was also admittedly a bit eerie.
Chile was the most relaxed leg of our adventure. Rob had booked an Air B&B right in city centre which was a welcome change after moving from hotel to hotel for so many weeks. Our flat was only a few doors down from the grocery so we decided to pick up some wine and snacks and spend our first evening just relaxing at home while we (well, Rob!) did some laundry.
The next day we set out to explore the city. Santiago is the capital of Chile and is apparently one of the largest cities in South America. It didn’t have a big city feel though. Our flat was only a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas, which is the main square in Santiago. The square was quite large and filled with walkways and gardens so it was a pretty spot.
The buildings in this area of town were mostly built in the 19th century, so all very new 🙂 But there were still some of the corner buildings we both loved everywhere in South America. This town square included one of my favourite statues in all of South America – The Monument to the Indigenous People. It was so striking! When I read more about it later, I found out that while it was built to honour the Mapuche people of Chile, the inclusion of a broken face was controversial. Apparently, the sculptor intended it to represent the resilience of Mapuche people, but it has instead been widely interpreted to represent their traumatic history and ongoing dispossession in Chile (which is sadly, but not surprisingly, quite similar to the history in Australia and Canada).
When we first arrived at the Plaza, we were treated to a great show by this drum band out front of the cathedral. Their drums were on their backs so they had to play by striking the drum behind them and tapping their foot to control the bass. Our video doesn’t show it but they added spins and all sorts while playing.
After wandering through a few buildings we decided to have some lunch at one of the local cafes in the square. Like the other places we’d been, I was keen to try food that was unique to Chile so ordered the Chorrillana. It definitely didn’t compare to the amazing dishes I tried elsewhere in South America.
After lunch, we continued to wander the city and came across La Monedo Palace, which is the office of the President, and a couple of other interesting buildings we couldn’t identify, but liked the look of. La Monedo has a long vertical pool out front full of water fountains. Like the other government houses we saw, it was right on a main street where the public could easily view it and wander around, with just a few guards out front.
We then wandered over to Castillo Hidalgo which was a castle only one block from where we were staying. We could actually see it from the balcony of our flat. The castle was built in 1816 and was used at that time to protect the city, but it apparently now used for events. The area has a lot of different walkways surrounded by gardens so it was very pretty.
There were also some great views of the city from the top. It was so interesting to look across the top of the city and see mountains right there. I know the mountains are much farther away than they appear, but it looks like the city runs right to the edge of them.
The following day was another full day of touring but rather than cities and sights, we set out to visit some wineries in the Casablanca region of Chile. It was actually a cool, grey day so a perfect day to be mostly indoors. We arrived at the first winery, Emiliana, by about 9:30am and were tasting wines by 10am – a new record I think! Emiliana is an organic winery and the wines here were delicious, especially the Coyum which is a type of wine we’ve never had before. It was a blend of eight different wines so quite complex.
Emiliana was also a farm so after tasting wine, we were able to wander around and see the animals, crops, and vineyards. Even though I’d seen some in Lima, I was excited to see more olive trees!
Our next stop was Bodegas RE. The inside of this winery was super cool and included all kinds of antiques so it was nice to just wander through. There was something new and interesting everywhere you looked.
The other interesting thing about this winery was the way in which it makes its wines. Rather than the traditional method, the winemakers here ferment and mature the wine in clay pots before storing it in barrels. The winemakers have apparently patented this innovative approach.
Our last winery of the day was Casas del Boque, a larger, more well known winery in the Casablanca region. The wines here were excellent and the sommelier facilitating the tasting process did an amazing job of talking about the different flavours or aromas in the wine. We really enjoyed the day.
The following day was my birthday and Rob had planned a fantastic outing as a surprise – horseback riding in the foothills of the Andes. What an experience! Fortunately, the dark skies from the day before had disappeared and we had absolutely perfect weather.
I’m not sure what I was expecting when he told me the plan, but the experience definitely exceeded all my expectations. The ride was about 3 hours long in total with spectacular views everywhere around us. It was hard to get a steady photo while climbing up and down hills on a horse, but I did manage a few. We even saw a herd of wild horses run through the area. This was truly a unique and special way to spend my 50th! I should have known Rob would find a way to make it extra special!
After horseback riding, we did a little more wandering in the city and ended up at Santa Lucia Hill and the Neptune Fountain where we had to try to wait out yet another influencer getting her photo taken from every possible angle. After four weeks, I was pretty much over the never ending saga of the perfect selfie for social media. We did wait a minute or two while this girl changed poses numerous times but I finally gave up and took a seat next to her. When we walked back by this area 15 minutes later, this girl and her friend were still there fixing their hair and taking photos – sigh!
We spent the following day, our last day of holiday, exploring a little more of Santiago. Our main plan for the day was to head to San Cristobal Hill which was about 30 minutes away from our flat. Along the way we found a bridge with more locks. I think we saw a version of this in every place we visited in South America.
When we reached San Cristobal Hill, we took an incline railway up to the Virgin Mary statue, which looked a bit like a mini version of Christ the Redeemer in Rio (only female of course!).
This area is also called the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception and it was clear why. There was a small church at the top and a number of public mausoleums. There was also a memorial where it appears people light candles and leave mementos of their loved ones who have died. We learned later that the church and area here is a main place of worship for the Catholic Church in Chile. I was quite taken by the different large, decorative crosses along the walkways there.
From the park at San Cristobal Hill, you can take the cable car across to other areas of the city. They started building the cable car system in the late 1970s and while we were there, we could see they were adding new cable car lines.
With all our sightseeing, we hadn’t taken time for lunch so we decided to give Chile’s second famous ‘dish’ a try on the walk back. These loaded hotdogs were everywhere and our wine tour guide couldn’t say enough about them. Well, I should have taken better note of the label on the food truck…I took one bite and threw it in the bin.
After that horrific food experience, we decided we needed a drink to wash it down. We wandered back through some lovely parks toward our flat to this fantastic little Peruvian restaurant, the Comoenperuon, which we had eaten at the first day we arrived in Santiago. We walked past this place everyday on route back to our flat and became friends with the owner Alex even though he didn’t speak English and our Spanish was horrific. However, we spoke a common language when it came to Pisco Sours! They were so yummy there! There is a long standing debate between Peru and Chile about who has the best Pisco Sour. I’m not sure we came any closer to solving it given the one we loved best was in Chile but at a Peruvian restaurant. On this last day, we broke the news to Alex that we were headed back to Australia using Google Translate. That just meant one more Pisco sour on the house and a selfie with our new friend!
And just like that we’d reached the end of our amazing South American adventure. We had the best time and brought home some amazing memories. Thanks for sharing them with us!