The bus pulled into Santiago just shy of 7:00 am. Bleary eyed, we set about finding a hostel in the Bellas Artes barrio. Neither of the 2 recommended to me by the periodista had space. We found a spot right on La Plaza de Armas. The rooms left something to be desired, but the views, the location, and the patio made it a primo spot. I shared a dorm with 4 koreans and Alexis for $15 per night. Check want until 1:00, so we changed, left our bags and hit the city. Neither of us had done our homework on Santiago.
We started with the obligatory walk up Cerro Santa Lucia. It offered tremendous views of the city with faint ghosts of the Andes as a backdrop amid the smog. I was still struggling with intestinal woes and a good part of my day was dedicated to finding the next public restroom.
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| City view from Cerro Santa Lucia |
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| City Admin building at Cerro Santa Lucia |
Feeling like crap, ot was nice to have Alexis there to make decisions and lead the way. He tolerated my crabbiness and never complained once. We went to Casa de Moneda, essentially the capitol building next. It was closed to the public owing to earthquake damage, but we got a sneak peak from outside.
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| with capital building guards |
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| Casa de Moneda |
We wandered over to the mercado because I wanted to look at the fish caught in Chile. I could not handle eating any owing to my stomach.
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| Peses muertos en el mercado |
From the mercado, we walked thru Bellavista. Pablo Neruda´s home was closed, so we had a little lunch then took the metro to outdoor stores on the other end of town. I was so weary from the heat, feeling crappy and walking a lot on little sleep. We went back to the hostel for a little break, had dinner (indian food) and I hit the sack, hard. I slept so hatd that I didnt hear all the koreans making noise.
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