Our Stay in Santiago – Part 2

Here we are lying and relaxing in the main park of Mendoza, Argentina. It’s pretty and green with lots of trees, water-fountains and the sound of a happy flute playing in the background. We arrived 2 days ago by taking a day bus (and the right bus this time) from Santiago across the Andes Mountains and Chilean border to Mendoza. We opted to travel during the day to be able to see the scenery and it was definitely worth it. Our bus drove over and through the spectacular mountain range. I still haven’t told you much about our time in Santiago…although there is not too much to tell…

But anyway, back in Santiago, Chile, most people seem very business orientated and on their own mission. (Which is probably normal in a big city.) We figured out how to use the subway and then easily made our way around the city. The subway map made sense once Holly explained it to me. There were steps down to the subway literally just 2 meters from the entrance of our apartment block! It’s a miracle that everyone living there is not morbidly obese from all the ice-cream and little need for walking.

We went to a big mall which was marked as a ” must see” on our map. It was nice but it was just a huge place with lots of shops. The many tall, glass buildings around the mall were all very fancy and impressive. We ate sushi! Sushi places are quite popular and abundant in Santiago. I miss the sushi we get from Full House at Preller in Bloem. The sushi we ate at that mall was okay but nowhere near to the awesome taste and friendly service of Full House.

On the day we arrived the taxi driver who took us to our apartment told us we need to taste a drink called Terremotto. The word means earthquake in Spanish and it’s a type of local drink made with sweet wine, Pisco and pineapple ice-cream. I’m glad he told us about them but he forgot to mention the warnings which should accompany any Terremotto recommendation: They ain’t called earthquakes for nothing and one is enough.

There was a hidden, local “hang out spot” close to our hotel called La Piojera. We found the address on Google and would not have gone in if we didn’t know about it because from the outside it looks as if nothing is happening but when you go in you discover that the place is packed and obviously very popular.

The four of us tried in Spanish to order Terremottos from the chubby, grey-haired waiter. He was friendly but seemed aggressive because the more we didn’t understand his Spanish the louder he spoke…which didn’t make us understand him any more than we did before. Eventually he arrived with only 3 Terremottos for 4 people…. I don’t know how he came to that conclusion!? We shared 2, then ordered 3 more so that we each had one. It tasted like pudding. Very yummy but a bit dangerous!

So basically we spent our time in Santiago eating, drinking and riding the subway. I really liked the apartment we hired with Holly and Ian. We booked it on booking.com and there were quite a few options available.

The four of us, Team Britain and Team SA, travelled together to Mendoza.