We caught a bus to Santiago, Chile's pretty capital city. We were informed of a free walking tour that you can take around the main parts of the city. We missed the one that started at 11am so had to wait until 3pm to catch the next one. In the meantime we spent the day wondering around looking at the various old buildings including parliament and palaces. The city is incredibly modern, as is most of Chile, and wandering around you could easily imagine yourself in any city in Europe. For some people it was a breath of fresh air to be back to "civilisation" but personally I prefer something that's a little different to home. At one stage we passed a parade going down the street and saw a man being followed by loads of paparazzi. Johanna asked who he was to a passer by and from what she could gather he was an MP of some sort. We could have walked past a Chilean celebrity and not even known it!

Our "free" walking tour (we actually were expected to give quite substantial tips) was really interesting and informative. The guide gave us a lot of information we otherwise wouldn't have found out. It lasted for 4 and half hours but did include an hour stop at a fancy cafe where some people indulged in Pisco sours, the national drink of both Chile and Peru. We started at the Plaza De Armas with all the important buildings. It is a pretty plaza but not easy to take photos of because of all the palm trees dotted around which block the view. There is also a very old cathedral on the plaza juxtaposed with a very modern looking building right next to it. Our guide also told us about the Coffee with Legs cafes dotted around the city. We had actually read about these in our guide books and already tried them out. It really is as seedy as it sounds. Cafes with scantily clad baristas serving coffee. Of course most of the customers are pervy old men but I was surprised to see men in suits discussing business in there too. Our guide told us that, although now illegal, some of these cafes still have random lockdowns where the shutters come down for one minute and all the girls strip naked! To Bryan and Kenneth's dismay that didn't happen while we were there!

Over the course of the time we had in Santiago, we treated ourselves to a trip to the cinema to see Ted, as well as spending some more time exploring the city. We climbed some steps to a pretty fountain and old architecture to a viewpoint of the city. The problem was it wasn't a particularly pretty looking viewpoint so I'm not sure it was worth the climb. Being such a large city, it is difficult to get cheaply from A to B, especially at night time. One night JP took us on such a long walk to find a restaurant that half the group dropped out to find McDonalds! The rest of us who stayed were rewarded with a lively plaza full of restaurants and bars. We chose a place to eat and we were all distracted by one of the guys who ordered a strawberry daiquiri when suddenly we heard a loud crack and Bryan was on the floor! He had leaned back in his chair and it collapsed underneath him. He wasn't bothered because the waitress was so apologetic that he got a free beer out of it!

There are many vineyards nearby to Santiago and as we were unable to see any in San Francisco, we thought it would be nice to go in Chile. Johanna had managed to find out that it was possible to take a metro to the closest vineyard which was a much cheaper option than booking through a tour agency. There was a group of us that went including a couple of newbies. It was fairly straightforward to get there, about 45 minutes on the metro and then a short taxi ride to Concho y Torro - the largest wine maker in the world who make the brand Casillero del Diablo. This is Kenneth's favourite wine so he was pretty happy when he discovered this was where we were going. We had a tour around the winery but perhaps it wasn't the right season because the grapes were just buds so it didn't look as beautiful as I was expecting. It was still very interesting to find out the process of making the wine and of course the bit Bryan was most looking forward to was the tasting part. They gave us a free wine glass as a momento which is obviously what every backpacker needs! It'll be a miracle if I get that back home in one piece! The metro ride home was a lot more interesting than the way over. Turns out it was rush hour and the train was so jam packed we couldn't all fit in the same metro. I ended up squished up against a fat man's belly and every time we stopped we got pushed and shoved around while people tried to get on or off. Definitely an interesting way to bond with the new people!

On our final day after saying an emotional goodbye to Johanna we decided to go up the rather large hill where the Virgin statue stands overlooking the whole city. Normally there is a fernicular train that goes up to the top but it was broken so instead there is a free bus. When we got there the queue for the bus was ridiculously long so we had the option to walk or wait. Some people walked but since it was a hot day and we had already checked out of our hotel and I wouldn't be able to have a shower, I decided against walking. The boys decided to go and find the football while they waited for the queue to go down. They managed to find the dingiest little bar and I decided it was too nice a day to do that so me and Sam sat in the park nearby to wait for the bus. It took a really long time to actually catch a bus and get up there but we eventually made it. Just in front of the statue are rows of benches and some pretty flower gardens where they play calming background music. It took me a few moments to realise that this was actually an outdoor church. Following this, we had a final meal with the old group before catching a night bus. We said goodbye to the remaining old group and Sam (an honorary Brit) found it very difficult to leave us - he stayed with us right up until our bus left for Pucon!