When I first suggested to my brother that we stay in a hostel in Santiago, my idea was met with a horrified and uncomprehending stare. Hostel? Me? Si! So we went online and ended up picking B&B Rio Amazonas – o
ne block from the Plaza Italia and about 100 metres from a Metro station. No, it doesn’t have a pool or gym. No, it doesn’t have a host of toiletries or an elevator. No, you can’t collect frequent flyer miles or order room service. BUT, it’s definitely a personal service and value for money. Case in point - since there were no doubles left, we booked a triple (3rd bed for my humongous bag). When we arrived we were given a room with 5 beds, easily as big as my brother’s living room. Besides, the gym comes built-in: no elevator means a 22kg bag to haul up 4 flights of stairs! 
Since we’d been sitting for the past 17+ hours, and slept approximately 2, we decided to put on some 
walking shoes for a self-styled city walking tour. Armed with maps and some good information from the people at the hostel, we set off for a 5 hour Epic Journey. First stop: lunch! Having read some of my Lonely Planet before arrival ( I have learned the error of my ways as a result of the unfortunate hostel choice in Hong Kong...), I knew that the thing to eat in Chile would be a Completo. Basically a hot dog with sauerkraut, ketchup and mayo piled high. We happened to find the cutest diner just around the corner from our hostel. A long square bar with a barbeque plate in the center, which was manned by about 6 older ladies – each in charge of cooking to order for their section of the bar. I ended up swapping my sauerkraut for some Palta (Avocado mush) and ended up with the mother-of-all-hotdogs!!! Yum... just what you need after 17 hours sitting in a plance and no sleep... SIESTA anyone? We made up for it though with 6 hours of walking. We went to the Universidad de Chile, Universidad Catholica, pedestrian shopping areas, Plaza de Armas, parks, the “River”, Museo de Bellas Artes ( I actually stepped foot inside, then immediately left again), Plaza Italia and finally the hostel again. Perfect timing – just as we returned to the hostel - my feet would move no more – it started to rain... and rain...and thunder... apparently Santiago’s first rain and worst storm in months!
That evening we met up Roger’s ex-colleague / friend and his wife, Juan and Maria, who had 
just moved back to Santiago from London the previous week. They took us on an excellent impromptu tour of the newer parts of Santiago – Sanhattan (Santiago + Manhattan...), El Golf etc and then onto dinner at the Lammu Lounge. It was 10pm by then (3am London time) and we were both ready to drop – not eat dinner. But when in Santiago... The food was excellent, as were the drinks. We tried Empanadas – little filo pastries filled with corn or meat or both. Delicious! And Roger had a Pisco Sour, the typical Chilean drink. Intermittent power cuts due to the still-raging storm made for an interesting atmosphere. After that everything was a blur, but I woke up in my bed at the hostel... so can’t have been too wild!
just moved back to Santiago from London the previous week. They took us on an excellent impromptu tour of the newer parts of Santiago – Sanhattan (Santiago + Manhattan...), El Golf etc and then onto dinner at the Lammu Lounge. It was 10pm by then (3am London time) and we were both ready to drop – not eat dinner. But when in Santiago... The food was excellent, as were the drinks. We tried Empanadas – little filo pastries filled with corn or meat or both. Delicious! And Roger had a Pisco Sour, the typical Chilean drink. Intermittent power cuts due to the still-raging storm made for an interesting atmosphere. After that everything was a blur, but I woke up in my bed at the hostel... so can’t have been too wild!
1 comment:
how dare you say that pisco sour is the typical chilean drink??? OH BOY, you are in big trouble! You'll see when you ge to Lima!!
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