I'm not sure why, but Santiago was one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting on the trip. It didn't disappoint.

We arrived on the Sunday evening and checked into a funky boutique hostel in Bellavista, which is the place to be in Santiago. Home to (at least) one of the many universities in the city, it is primarily a student area but full of bars, restaurants and clubs which cater for everything from $1 beer to top end restaurants. Even on a Sunday night it was packed and had a great buzz to it. Craving home comforts we settled on $1 beer and pizza on a street terrace, watching the world go by. "Going by" included a drunk guy jumping from a neighbouring first floor window and running off down the street. One way to avoid paying the bar tab I guess!

The next day being Monday pretty much all the museums were closed and so we spent the day strolling around the city centre soaking up the atmosphere. It has the feel of a big international centre, far more than Bogota, Quito or La Paz. Restored historical buildings sit next to 60s office blocks next to modern glass skyscrapers. It all feels very familiar, some bits are like London, some like Paris, some like New York, others like any other major city you care to mention. Although it is far from a UNESCO site, there's still the Latin American undertone. Anyway, we liked it a lot.