After our very long flight from Australia and the 13 hr delay...via Auckland we were very glad to arrive safely in South America.
Santiago is a very modern metropolis (4 million population...same as Ireland).......our internet search for a reasonable hotel found us very lucky....the Orly Hotel was situated in a very nice neighborhood with many nice cafes and restaurant in the area. Since we arrived late at night, it was handy that we could explore without any worry as the area was very safe.
Awoke in the morning to the beautiful Andes surrounding the city with 25 degree C (approx 75 F) weather for the 3 days so that was a bonus. The spectacular mountains have a downside......since they completely surround Sanitago, they prevent any crosswinds...thus a heavy blanket of smog hangs over the city.
We did a guided tour of the city with an English speaking tour guide.....wish more of my Spanish classes at DC came back to me......but we managed with the general.....get-by.....phrases.
The only other factor we had to manage was the money......approx 525 Pesos to 1USD......so you could either get pesos or dollars...and we were thinking in euros....so needed our thinking caps on....when thousands of pesos appeared to seem like alot of money!
Just another little tid bit on Chile.......it is the major financial center for the continent and headquarters for the likes of Yahoo, Microsoft and JP Morgan............this would become much more apparent after spending time in Peru, Argentina and Brazil. Definately the most modernized city in South America that we have seen!
Noel was quite proud to see the main Avenue in the city named after the son of an Irishman.....Bernardo O`Higgins, who had been the supreme director of the Chilean republic in the 1800~s!!
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