Day 263, 264, 265, 266, 267 - Santiago - Thursday 5th, Friday 6th Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th, Monday 9th July 2012

Come midday we made our way to the bus station and boarded our bus bound for Santiago. The journey only took a couple of hours but it couldn't have been a worse day to arrive into Santiago - it was completely grey, raining and dull and the kind of weather that makes everyone and everything also look grey. But alas, all was not lost as, once we'd made our way through the metro system, we arrived at casa de Julia, my friend Alex's mums in the Providenca area of Santiago and we're welcomed with a lovely cup of tea (my first proper cup in months!!) and cakes and biscuits. Julia's apartment was lovely, we had our own room, a second room for our bags and our own bathroom and the views, it's on the fourteenth floor, were amazing. After unpacking our bags we headed out to check out the neighbourhood and walked for miles taking in the streets and shops before we found a lovely little restaurant called Liguires. After spending too much time trying to work out what was on offer, we settled for some fish and steak and washed it down with a bottle of Chilean red. Sleepy and full up, we started the long walk back to Julia's to get some zzzzz's.

Ad here…….We were up early today for our morning bike ride!! Part of the deal when Soph sorted the bus tickets was a free bike tour of the capital, I was really looking forward to it as anything that involves Soph, a helmet, balance and two wheels is always entertaining! We took the metro with Julia as she was going to work, it was 8am and the middle of rush hour, but after a bit of bumping and squeezing we managed to say goodbye to Julia and get off at the right stop! After navigating our way out of the mazy, crazy station we had a ten minute walk across town and over the river to the bike office. Now seeing as we have spent the last eight months in sunny climates we weren't really ready for the freezing cold weather that is Santiago's winter. So espadrilles, no socks, leggings (and that's just me!) and $1 hat off the Bolivian market weren't the best choices!! Anyway we made it there and were greeted by our guide who helped us select our fashionable bright green bikes and helmets. Then after a brief safety presentation (which Soph paid extra special attention!) we were on our way and exploring the bohemian Bellavista neighbourhood. The town was covered in what our guide called "street art" - that's graffiti to you and me! Actually jokes aside, some of it was really good. We stopped at another one of Pablo Neruda´s houses which was really interesting and just outside, on six huge columns, was one of his poems "Let me be in silence", our guide translated it for us and it was really good. After the house, we explored the bustling Patronato neighbourhood with stops in the Korean and Middle Eastern districts and the La Vega fruit and vegetable market. The market was unreal; we bought a Chimmi-maya which was delicious, apparently it translates in English to custard apple - nope, I've never heard of it either?!! The market itself was massive and full of customers, traders and oh, loads of stray dogs of which one followed us for some time!! We stopped for a café con leche and some pumpkin flavoured fried bread, a soprillia - lovely! Literally everyone we met in the markets asked us the same questions of where we were from (followed by a thumbs up when we said England) and then if we liked Chile, which of course we said yes to! Then we were off again to explore the centre of Santiago with stops at the Mapocho Train Terminal, the Central Seafood Market, Plaza de Armas Square and the Museum of Fine Arts. By the end of the tour poor old Sophie's nose was so red, mine had icicles on the end of it and neither of us could feel our feet!! So we walked back towards our neighbourhood and found the biggest shopping centre ever. It came out of nowhere, and best of all, it had a Topshop for the wife! You should of seen the smile on her face!! All shopped out, we headed back to Julia's and hit the sack (Soph actually didn't even buy anything)…

Today we had a leisurely morning with breakie pretty late. Julia is so good that when we wake up she has already gone to work but before she goes she lays out a full breakfast with cereal, fresh fruit, teas, coffees, fresh bread and jams - it's amazing!! After taking our time and reading about the rainy summer back in London, we headed out. The weather was warmer, the sky was blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight so we skipped the metro and walked all the way to the centre of town and down to Plaza De Alarmas. The centre was busy and there were street performers everywhere. Now, seeing as I hadn't had my hair cut for eight months and I was starting to look like a cross between Timmy Mallet and Chris Waddle (not Sophie - me!!), I decided it was high time I got the old barnet chopped. After looking in a few barbers I was pretty scared so we went to "El Rapido" which is a little empanada food place in town Julia had told us about - five empanadas and a large beer later I had a bit of dutch courage and in my best Espanish asked for a haircut. The lady in the shop just laughed (my Spanish is crap!) and pointed to the seat. Five minutes later and with me nearly bald I was done!! We then just relaxed and wandered around St Lucia Hill, then headed over to the other hill and got the funicular up to the top of San Cristoball and watched the sunset - it was amazing and one of the best we have seen so far (check out the photos), you can see all over the whole city and further out too, just spectacular!!. All sounds great hey… Ok this is where it goes a bit wrong. It was now obviously dark and the funicular was now closed but apparently you could walk down. We assumed (always a mistake) that there was just one way straight down, so we asked two people who pointed in the same direction. So we walked and walked and it got darker and darker, so dark in fact that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!! We got completely lost and ended up walking / running about 30k in the wrong direction away from where we lived!! We were supposed to meet Sandy and David at their hostel at 7pm… We arrived at 8.20pm!! Anyway eventually the evening started and was nice, we went for dinner at Galindo which is a traditional Chilean restaurant and then went to a bar with Sandy and David and some crazy Brazilians they knew to watch the UFC middle weight championship fight!! Home, tired and in bed for 2am - a bit tipsy too!!

Next morning we woke and told Julia our "funny" story, but although she saw the funny side she was also worried. After Soph finished telling her, she explained that lots of gangs wait up there at night to rob people and that the police have had real problems in that area. She said that we were very luck that nothing happened! Someone is obviously looking down on us! Come afternoon we decided to go for a wander around town and the shops and get some food near us and then head back for an early night - Soph had a beef, cheese and avocado sandwich and I had Quesadilla's - yummy!

Soph back again…….After a lovely lie in followed by another huge breakfast I made the most of the bath (my first in four months - bath not wash, I've had showers of course) and soaked in it for over an hour. I emerged a very happy and warm person and was ready to face the chills of Santiago! It was afternoon by the time we got out and so we headed to the main road to have a look around the second hand shops; they all seem to sell very good labels (CK, Ralph Lauren etc) for very cheap but all in XXXL sizes! We looked around for a few hours and Ad bought a nice lumberjack shirt. After grabbing a bite to eat and a coffee we headed back to Julia's for a quick cup of tea and a chat before it was time to leave for our night bus to Pucon. We said our goodbyes to Julia and thanked her for making Santiago so great! Next stop, Pucon!