Well, what should have felt like an eternity to get here wasn’t that bad.. I slept most of the way, thanks to a friend with contacts at American Airlines (thanks Robbie) I was able to secure the spacious exits seats. I decided to take on the city by foot, and it really is the only way to do it, I believe this to be true of most cities. I had a rough plan of what I wanted to do and I must admit I think nailed it!

I will admit to starting off this Food and Wine tour poorly (Big Mac anyone), but that was more out of necessity.. Once I got into the city a little deeper, I was drawn towards the fantastic sounds of music at Plaza De Armas, An military band with a classic twist, big trumpets, sax, drums and a few more instruments that seemed more local. Powerful stuff and the local Sunday worshipers seemed to enjoy it, as I caught more than a few ladies (and an odd guy or two) tear up.. Passionate people here.
From there, I made my way towards the fish market and just wandered around and took this visual feast in. Basically if it swam, it was here. The real draw here is that anything you saw could be cooked up in a matter of minutes and presented to you..The Chilean King Crab looked dangerous to the touch, but the flesh look mouthwatering and it has more in common with lobster than crab. From there, I crossed over to the fresh fruit and veg market, passing street food vendors with more Ceviche than I knew what to do with. You get the idea.. fresh food a plenty, and cheap!
My journey continued, after a quick pint of “Crystal” one of the crop local beers and an interesting bar where apparently you could smoke.. But only light Cigarette’s! This also leads me to my other question: It involves the public bathrooms. Apparently you could use them, they just weren’t gonna give you toilet paper.. It’s not that they are out, they just don’t offer it. That might be a question for my guide today.

The evening was spent walking around the beautiful suburb of Bellavista, a lively part of town that is well known for its countless restaurants, bars and cafes (even an Irish Bar). As the sun goes down this area is rocking till 5am (or so I am told).. During the day however, I had taken a cable car ride up to Cerro San Cristobal, roughly 1000ft above the city and has stunning views of the snow capped mountains that surround the city of Santagio. This is a religious shrine and there is a 75ft statute of the blessed Virgin Mary, and Hymns are piped through in the background as locals and tourists alike sat and contemplated life a little. The Pope said mass up here in 1987 and I heard that you typically don’t get the view we got due to smog. But I lucked out.

The evening slowed down after dinner and after getting ripped off by our second taxi of the day, We decided to call it a night. We are in the area for another few days before our 7 hour bus ride over the Andes (still mucho snow..) so I will hopefully be able to update as I go. As for now, I must head off and join up with my rather eager and experienced travel veterans. Two guys… 12 Women.. So help me blessed Virgin Mary!

Photos to follow!