After weeks rugged up in Peru and Bolivia and breathing through a straw, a feeling of rapture overcomes us as we arrive in Santiago, Chile. Not only is it the warmth that draws us in, but the feel of the city. Peru and especially Bolivia had a feeling of desperation and subsistence living, whilst Chile is vibrant and alive.
Brad has a theory that you can determine how developed an economy is by three simple factors: 1) Fashion Conscienous populas, 2) Obesity, due to fast food courtesy of KFC, McDonald's and Burger King and 3) the amount of women wth tattoos.
With map in hand and Lea directing the self-guiding tour we discover the sights of Santiago. We wander the streets, we people watch and sit in the Plaza de Armas and drink Schops. We watch a myriad of buskers perform, we explore the Cathedral and discover that baby jesus is missing from the nativity, we meander up the steps of Cerro Santa Lucia, through its gardens to a fort perched high above the city. A friendly police officer informs Lea that she should remove her Pandora gear and lock it in her bag. We are unsure whether this makes us feel safer or scared.
We pass the Opera House and the Lastina Neighborhood; we feel the grass on our feet as we stroll through the Parque Forestall and we down more Schops and taste local bar food along Pio Nono road and finally shunt vertically upwards on the Funicular railway to look down upon the smog ringed town and to see the Virgin Mary standing watchful and protective over Santiago.
We walk for hours taking in the ambience of the city and as the shadows lengthen and the first stars pin prick the darkening sky , we feel the warm evening air on our skin as we walk arm in arm through the cobblestone streets back to our apartment.
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