Monday 12 May 2008

First Days in Santiago

After the red-eye from Toronto to Santiago, we dropped our bags off at the hostel and went out in hopes of familiarizing ourselves with this bustling city. The city was not-so bustling. Sundays are a quiet day in Santiago and we found that most things were closed. Not sure of where to go we decided to head for "the big buildings, it must be busy there" - thanks to Kelsey- We indeed found the big buildings with a plethora of other closed shops. As our hunger led us in search of food, we stumbled across a small inlet mall on a street we probably can't pronounce. Reading hand written menus on signs, confusion rose with the beckons of vendors and comments on blonde hair. We eventually found a lovely singing gentleman who ushered us into the busiest family-run cove of them all. Cesar, the singing man, quickly became friends with us, Kelly and Lisa. Through gesturing and broken Spanish Kelly got her chicken with mystery sauce and Lisa got some green pasta, not to mention two glasses of bucket-juice. Don't worry, we're alive and healthy. As Cesar questioned our marital status and nationality, the other 20 people crammed into the cove used us as their dining entertainment. The wonders of that meal cost us a whopping 2,600 pesos or $5 altogether, but that memory is worth at least $1,000.

After picking a direction to walk, we wandered through the cobblestone streets in hopes of finding something cultural. Turns out that our aimless wandering landed us in one of the most famous squares in the city, Plaza de Armas. As the Plaza is surrounded with museums we decided to make use of the free entry on Sundays, and we set out to find the Museo de Arte Precolombiano. Thinking it was blocks away, Liza peered through a small opening in a wall to see a banner. The banner said "Museo de Arte Precolombiano". Fancy that. It was really cool and the explanations helped us with our Spanish.

Since our spontaneity worked out so well yesterday, we braved the bustle of Monday morning and found an amazing street market, Kensington style. ALPACA sweaters galore!!! Two for us, none for you!
Today we also booked our flights to Punta Arenas for Wednesday. Pick up for the airport = 3:45am. Early bird catches the worm!

¡Hasta Pronto! - Kelly y Lisa

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hola Kelly and Lisa - sounds like your first days in Santiago have been great! Love the writing and the pics. Bundle up for Punta Arenas... brrrr.
love to you both,
Kit/mama xoxo

Anonymous said...

Alpacas... liza?! best be training one now.. pictures! fantastic.

-gryph

Jenna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenna said...

Chicas!

So jealous of your Alpaca sweaters. Kelly, maybe on the way home you can convince Lisa to purchase one for me...Amazing.

Love the update. More Pictures next time!
Be well K+L, and remember to semper ubi sub ubi

Love, Jenna

Anonymous said...

Oh dear...I had to get some help on how to spell 'vaminos' so I could check into the blog! I'm delighted to be introduced to Kelly and Lisa...I wonder if they have met Kelsey and Liza?! Be sure to tell them to buy LOTS of alpaca sweaters...seems to me those girls left with empty suitcases just for that reason!
LOve the stores and the photos! Stay warm in Patagonia...I just checked the weather report...hope the mountains appear.

Love,
Mum

Anonymous said...

Kelsey friggen martin!!!!
soooooo glad your spontaneity and lack of planning paid off!!!! I'm soo glad to hear you got there well and I can't wait to see more pictures. Have an awesome time girls.
Emily

Timothy Martin said...

southern hemisphere buddies! this is so rad. oh man. what a moment. but seriously, who's kelly?

hasta luego mi amigos. Yo es muy awesome.
Timo
PS - im actualy very happy you have this blog...thanks. keep writing and dont give up.

Anonymous said...

kelseyyyy!
i finally found your blog!
sounds wild and AMAZING, glad for you.
keep posting:)
love, char

Anonymous said...

Liza: Muchisiamas gracias por el Blog de Kelsey(Kelly) y tu por nosotros qiuen no participan en vuestros adventuras.
Las photos son magnificos.
Espero que todos disfrutan las experiencias en Chile. Von con seguridad. Un abrazo grande. Tu tia Mim.

Museo de Arte Precolombino

Museo de Arte Precolombino

Summit of San Cristobal

Summit of San Cristobal

Alpaca Market

Alpaca Market