Santiago lies just 225 miles from Mendoza but it feels like a different world. We arrived into the city after a long, but beautiful, drive through through Andes. Including tackling what is quite possibly one of the windiest roads we have attempted in a bus. Or any vehicle. A feat of engineering and not one for the  faint hearted when you are looking down from the top deck of a bus. We navigated passport control almost without a hitch, the customs dog doing a tremendous job in searching out the fresh fruit we had declared on our customs forms, and putting most of our lunch sprawling across the passport hall. We then had a small delay due to a landslide on the road but otherwise we arrived safe and sound into a pretty ‘in your face’ bus station. With no Chilean Pesos we put our faith in Uber, and like a knight in shining armour, a beautifully air conditioned brand new SUV appeared out of the smog, playing classical music, we kid you not, and whisked us off to our home for the next four nights.

We are staying in a big old school corporate hotel whose former years would have had it as one of the most opulent and grand hotels in Santiago, with lots of wooden panelling and polished brass. Whilst it feels a little dated today, it has actually proven to be an oasis of calm, in an otherwise pretty abrasive city. Not wanting to jump to conclusions too swiftly, and appreciate we haven’t spent that long in Santiago, but we have covered some distance, most of it on foot, and it isn’t overly pleasant. The tour guides often refer to it as gritty, there are a few others adjectives we would probably use in its place. It has however given us an opportunity to catch up with some domestic admin, some homeschooling, and taken advantage of the swimming pool and onsite gym.

We spent most of Saturday exploring some of the museums Santiago has to offer, a Natural History Museum which was good and told us lots about Chile and the natural ecosystem here, and an outdoor locomotive Museum, which was less interesting but equally as much fun. We also took advantage of being in the middle of the city and the plethora of shops on offer to pick up a few much needed items after a month on the road. We ventured further a field in the evening for supper given the restaurants around the hotel aren’t overly salubrious, it proved more difficult than we imagined to find somewhere suitable, however we were rewarded with some of the best quality and good value food we have had so far in Chile.

Sunday morning started off with us watching the changing of the guard, which, despite being 30mins late starting (can’t imagine it running 30 seconds late in the UK), was absolutely brilliant fun, and at one stage the band even played “Take on me” by Aha. We then headed off on foot in search of the Funicular railway to take us up Cerro San Cristobal for a panoramic view over the city. We read on Saturday that Santiago has a problem with air quality and atmospheric pollution, it certainly felt that way when walking around, however it became very evident when 800m above the city and seeing just how bad the problem was. None the less it afforded a excellent view of the sprawling city, with a 22m tall statue of Mary looking down on its inhabitants. We took the cable car down and rewarded our minimal physical effort with coffee and cake / pancakes.

 

 

The evening was one of the highlights of our stay in Santiago as we headed off to an area of Santiago called Barrio Italia for a family cookery lesson on how to make Empanadas, a local staple of Argentina and Chile. We were making Pino Empanadas, a Chilean speciality, which consists of chopped beef, onions, boiled egg, raisins and an olive, seasoned with salt, oregano, paprika, cumin and merken ( smoked chilli and ground coriander). This is served with Pebre, which is a fresh salsa made from onion, tomato, coriander, chilli peppers, apple vinegar, oil, salt and cold water, and of course washed down with a glass of red wine! It was a great experience to see inside a real Chilean home and spend an evening with a local Chilean. We made so many the Uber driver on the way home was very happy to take a couple off our hands.

 

Our last day in Santiago saw us scale, sounds more impressive than take an elevator up, the highest skyscraper in South America, Sky Costanera. Which stands around the same height as the Eiffel Tower, so actually, not that tall after all. That said, the views of the city were excellent, if a little hazy, given the aforementioned pollution problem. It is also provided much needed air conditioned respite after a much longer than anticipated walk through the city, where we offloaded the leftover empanadas from last night’s cookery class to some of the people we passed who were down on their luck.

For the second time in 5 weeks we also gave in and ended up in a fast food restaurant in the luxury air conditioned shopping mall attached to the tower. The colonel continues to deliver his unique blend of herbs and spices in creating mouth watering delights. We picked up a few bits needed for the next leg of our journey, Ecuador and the Galapagos, which await us after a rather early start tomorrow. So it was back to the hotel for some more homeschooling, to make use of the gym and pool, and to pack.

Santiago has grown on us ever so slightly, most places we visit always do given a little time, however we won’t be sad to leave, and I am not sure we will be rushing back any time soon. Onwards and upwards.