Santiago de Chile: Neruda and the mountains. March 2019

Hotel Cumbres Lastarria

Hello again! Return to Aterrizando to tell you about an adventure through the American Continent, our trip to Santiago de Chile, after visiting Easter Island. This was in March 2019.

Many things have happened in the life of my family, so the delay in writing this entry in Landing. Since mid-2019, we have moved from Switzerland to South Africa. So he hadn't spent much time writing about this trip. Now that we are in the Quarantine for the Corona Virus, because the nostalgia for traveling is great and what better way to combat it than remembering past trips.

Restaurant Mulato

Our journey through Santiago de Chile began on March 13, after visiting Easter Island, also belonging to Chilean territory. We arrived in the afternoon. On a LATAM flight, the Chilean airline. We were in the Chilean summer. It was very interesting to see the mountains on our way to the hotel. Santiago de Chile is a city in the Andean mountains.

And we arrived at our hotel. Cumbres Lastarria Hotel. Very central and perfect for walking the next day throughout the city. At the moment it was dinner time and we decided to visit the restaurant on the corner, hoping to eat typical dishes and yes, we had them. Mulato, Market Cuisine. There we savor their cuts of meat, accompanied by a Chilean wine, Syrah. The empanadas could not miss and of course, with dessert, bacon from heaven.

Empanadas

Syrah

The way to the hotel only a minute, it was next door. It was time to sleep and prepare for a nice summer day on the streets of Santiago.



Walking to the Cerro de Santa Lucía

View from the room

Nothing could be more beautiful than walking in the Chilean sun at 10 in the morning and seeing the streets of Santiago come alive. Our first point on the tourist agenda was to walk to Cerro de Santa Lucía. We had an excellent panoramic view of the city. On the hill is the Hidago Castle, which was built in the 19th century. The sun at that time was pleasant, so going back down to the city was not a hot problem.

Back at the Plaza de Armas, we sat down to enjoy a Chilean beer and the girls from some delicious hot dogs. In El Rincón del Portal, we sit outside. From there we could see the Metropolitan Cathedral and also, the coming and going of the Chileans during their midday break.

Arriving to Cerro de Santa Lucía

After the break, we continued walking to visit some shops, including Hites, and to visit the Palacio de la Moneda, current residence of the Chilean President. Time was pressing, because soon we would return to our hotel to meet my friend from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Maggie is Chilean but has Mexico in the heart. We met while we were studying some subjects of the Bachelor of Communication degree. And of course, she speaks like a mexican.

View from Castillo Hidalgo

Castillo Hidalgo

Walking in the city

Plaza de Armas

Salvador Allende

Palacio de la Moneda

After greeting each other and not having seen each other for a long time, since we only communicated on Facebook, we sat down to talk in the hotel's terrace restaurant. She took us to la Chascona, the house where the poet Pablo Neruda lived. It was one of the best things we could take from Chile.

Chascona, Pablo Neruda house

With Maggie

Lovely details

Patio Bellavista

Dinner at Azul Profundo

Mist Ice Cream Roll

Afterwards, we returned to the hotel on Uber to change and go to dinner. Maggie took us to the Patio Bellavista. But first we had dinner at the Azul Profundo restaurant. An authentic Chilean food, with the best fish and seafood. Afterwards, we walked among the shops of the Patio Bellavista and for dessert, we had an ice cream with Mist Ice Cream Roll.

Bye, bye Santiago

This place is really a must visit for the tourist. We really enjoyed the summer night and a good chat with Maggie. Our daughters bought some souvenirs and we all enjoyed the good ice cream.

The night ended and we returned to the Hotel Cumbres Lascarria. Our visit to Santiago de Chile was about to end with another stop before returning to the European Continent. We were going back to Toronto, Canada, to spend one night before our flight to Basel, Switzerland.

Hello again, Toronto

Thank you very much for joining me in this account of a past trip, of more than a year. Now that we are in Quarantine due to the Corona virus, I have time to update this blog that was interrupted by our move to another continent, Africa, in Cape Town. We have been living here since July 2019. We are very grateful that we reached the African continent before the virus, because the move would have been even more difficult. Well, I wish you a good week and take good care of yourselves please