Acemuzzy’s Positronic Blog

Day 22 (Monday 21 July) - Arequipa to Santiago

We were glad we’d booked the earlier flight, as we got bored pretty quickly in Arequipa.  It was a nice enough place, with great views of the nearby volcanoes, but it was too hot and we just weren’t loving it.

Eventually it was time for our flight, so we headed off to the airport.  We were flying via Lima and had to re-check our luggage, but it wasn’t actually too bad.

Landed just after midnight and took a cab to our hotel (Hotel Foresta).  The feel of the city was really different to what had gone before, but seemed nice and more European.  Nevertheless, straight to bed.

Day 23 (Tuesday 22 July) - Santiago

We did quite enjoy Santiago, though didn’t actually do much our first day there.

We wandered into the centre and mozied around, before heading North to Bellavista via what seemed like the world’s largest clothing district.  We were peckish by the time we’d made it so stopped off for some slow food.

We then got chatting to a tourist information guy and set up a wine tour for the following day.  We were going to head up the furnicular but the queue was massive so we left it for later in the week.

Instead, we attempted to track down a starbucks which took hours (literally: two, including internet research) but was well worth it.  Dinner was a banana.

Day 24 (Wednesday 23 July) - Santiago

We headed off to the Concha y Toro vinyard first thing, for an interesting tour, nice wine, and complementary glasses.  The weather was great, under blue skies, and gave the best aspect of the surroundnig snowy peaks.

We went to a huge shopping centre in the afternoon. Lunch was spagghetti (bibs provided!), followed by the latest Batman movie (Dark Night).

We got a loony (and expensive) cab ride back into the centre, where after some deliberation we agreed on fast food for dinner.

Day 25 (Thursday 24 July) - Santiago

Our last full day

We finally did head up the fernicular, with good views at the top, at the feet of the Virgin Mary.  We walked down (the long way) into a different shopping area where we changed some cash (which took ages) and had some italian food. 

We then got the cab back into the centre of town, paid our hotel bill, and wondered around town for the final time.  Flight at 12.15pm tomorrow, so not too early, but packing beckons…