Wednesday 28 November 2012
After the sad goodbye to Kurt I started to get myself
organised to go to the airport to meet up with Wayne for the flight to
Santiago.
The departure from the Motel on the airport shuttle went
like clockwork and I arrived at a very hectic airport with long lines
everywhere. I went up to a Qantas information lady to ask her the best way to
check-in. She took me to the no lines Business Class check-in. Wow I was on my
way to immigration and breezed through security in only a few minutes.
I was starving and had some brekkie while I waited for
Wayne.
I finally met up with Wayne at the boarding lounge and after
a few delays we at last boarded the aircraft 40 mins late.
The flight over was not too bad in fact it was a very
pleasant one. The arrival process was a
bit out of date as we had to line up to pay an entry visa fee of $95.00, but we
were on our way into the city within an hour of getting off the aircraft.
We had to wait until 3pm to check in to our unit so we found
a nice German eating place to have lunch and a pint of beer.
It was funny as we don't speak Spanish and the staff didn't speak English. The city is beaut so far and offices closed between 1 pm and 3.30 pm for siesta. The footpaths and eating places were crowded between those times.
It was funny as we don't speak Spanish and the staff didn't speak English. The city is beaut so far and offices closed between 1 pm and 3.30 pm for siesta. The footpaths and eating places were crowded between those times.
After lunch we went to a little convenience store to buy
some supplies for the unit. I went to pay by card and their machine broke down.
As I had not got any local money as yet, I had to leave the store without the
purchases.
Our unit is fantastic up on the 13th floor so we have great
views. It is a very modern 2 bedroom 2 bathroom unit and even better than how
it looked on the internet. After we settled in we set off to try again to buy
our supplies. This time we went to a nearby bigger shop and had success with
using the card to pay for our purchases. The lack of our ability to even speak
even simple Spanish leads to some very funny and embarrassing situations for
us.
As we had a big lunch we settled for a sandwich for the
evening feed combined with a few sips of our duty free liquor. We managed to stay up until about 8.30 pm
before calling it a night. It is 32 hours since I got up in Sydney, so the body
and the eyes are telling me it is time for a nanna nap.
So at the end of the first day I am impressed with Santiago
with what I have seen and experienced so far.
I first awoke at 2 am after 5 hours sleep so I got up and
did emails etc until 5.30am and then went back to bed for another 4 hours
sleep. (The body clock is a tad confused at the moment.)
It dawned a bit overcast and a little rainy however it
cleared up a bit by lunch time when we went out to lunch and buy some more
supplies. Wayne saw a watch for $20 that he couldn’t resist. (His first watch
purchased on this trip.)
We went to a rooftop revolving restaurant for lunch. What
great service and the wine and meal was excellent. The views were fantastic. We
seem to be handling our lack of Spanish a
lot better today and not making as bigger fools of ourselves as Yesterday.
I have caught up with my washing for the past 6 days as the
unit has laundry facilities in a hallway cupboard.
Fri 30 Nov 2012
We had a relaxing day after the late night out with Bernardo & Tauba and their friends. We did up bacon and eggs in the unit for brekkie. We sat around chatting and then had a morning nanna nap.
Early afternoon we set out on foot to do some exploring and
check out some of the places Bernardo had suggested. We did some shopping for
food supplies.
The prices are much the same as Australia. We visited the newest and largest shopping centre in Santiago. The supermarket was huge and very well stocked. We bought a six pack of local beer to try for about $5.
The prices are much the same as Australia. We visited the newest and largest shopping centre in Santiago. The supermarket was huge and very well stocked. We bought a six pack of local beer to try for about $5.
In the evening we had savoury snacks with our drinks and
just a light evening meal. As it is not dark here until about 9 pm we don’t
seem to eat at night until late so it was about 1 am by the time I got to bed.
Sat 1 Dec 2012
We slept in and had a late brekkie and were on our way to
catch the hop on hop off Red Bus at 11 am.
Boy oh boy was this is a beaut way to see this fantastic city. It reminds me of cities in southern Spain and in Portugal. So clean and tidy and it was a brilliant sunny day.
Boy oh boy was this is a beaut way to see this fantastic city. It reminds me of cities in southern Spain and in Portugal. So clean and tidy and it was a brilliant sunny day.
Late afternoon we had lunch at the big Maccas over the road
from our condo. Then we walked off our late lunch taking in the sights of our
surroundings. Our condo is in the Providencia district of Santiago so we are
very central to all the facilities.
Wayne cooked up a pizza for our late dinner and we had a
bottle of red to wash it down. I had an early night for a change and was in bed
shortly after midnight.
Sunday 2 Dec 1012
Another sleep in and late brekkie, I did a load of washing
before we went out exploring about 11 am. Our main goal today was to get some
transport from Santiago for the 2 hour trip down to Valparaiso the port city
where we board the ship.
The bus service required us to take a taxi to the bus
terminal and likewise from the Valparaiso end to the ship. There was also a
change of bus along the way so with all our luggage it became all to hard. We
phoned Holland America in Seattle to see if we could catch there transfer coach
from the airport to the ship but it was already full.
Today we walked down to the Radisson to see if their concierge
could help us. Well the delightful young bloke who spoke very good English moved
mountains for us. He has organised a car to pick us up outside our condo
building at 9 am and drive us direct to the ship. He told us he had only come back
from a 12 month working holiday in Australia and he loved Oz and wanted to go
back again. The cost of the transfer will cost $80 each so that is not too bad
for door to door service.
The city on Sundays is very quiet and virtually no traffic
on the roads. A complete contrast to what it is like on the week days.
On the
way back from the Radisson we called in to a church and a bishop (he had the red skull cap on) was giving his
sermon in Spanish so we didn’t stay for the rest of the Mass.
We called into the supermarket and bought a BBQ chook and
some salad to have for a late lunch back at the unit. It is very warm today,
but a perfect clear day. The traffic is still very quiet.
Our unit is in a fantastic position with so many restaurants
and food outlets nearby as well as the Metro and the bus services. The unit is
well fitted out with all mod cons and full cooking and washing facilities I
would certainly recommend it to anyone wanting this type of accommodation. The website for the unit is http://www.flipkey.com/santiago-condo-rentals/p251519/ for your information.
Well it is a relief to have the transfer to the ship organised
we just had a bit of a walk around then a few drinks before packing and an
early night.
Santiago is a wonderful friendly ‘young’ vibrant go ahead
city. There didn’t seem to be many old folks around. We have really enjoyed our
5 days here.
Our only regret was that we
could not speak a little Spanish.
Oh Well, tomorrow it is goodbye Santiago.
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