Waking up to Summer in Santiago (1-27-19)

Sunday, January 27

Good morning from some where over South America.

It wasn't a great night but I managed better than Bob to get a little sleep on the flight. For some reason he didn't realize that the sides of the headrest could be folded out and sort of molded around your head. He also had refused to take a travel pillow so his head bobbed around all night like one of those little dogs that people put on the dash of their cars.

About an hour before landing breakfast was served and then I started getting my stuff gathered up in anticipation of finally getting off the plane. Walking through the first class section of the plane as we exited, I couldn't help but feel a little (OK...a lot) of jealousy. The lie-flat seats with fluffy comforters meant "those folks" were probably starting their day feeling rested and refreshed. I'm such a cheap skate that unless we miraculously get a free upgrade I'll never know for sure.


It was quite a hike to get through the Santiago airport. My iPhone health app recorded 1.3 miles just in the airport. I'm not sure it is accurate, but it was a VERY long walk from the gate where we landed.

Lines to get through immigration were so long they were backing up to the point of causing a dangerous blockage right at the bottom of the escalator. People were yelling “move, move!” as we were coming down. I had visions of a chain reaction of human dominoes falling. Seeing the bottleneck, one of the agents sent a bunch of us through the line designated for Chilean residents only. Still a long queue but it was continuously moving. 

After getting our luggage and going through the mess of customs, the four of us went to the Transvip desk and asked about a shared shuttle van to our hotel. The cost for that was 7,000 CLP per person (a little over $10 US) but we could get a private van for a little over 26,000 (credit card charge was $39.27) which was slightly cheaper and quicker. We paid by credit card and just showed the receipt to the Transvip representative outside door #3. We had to wait about three minutes and then a driver showed up and took us and our mountain of luggage to the Hotel Plaza San Francisco. 

Oh...before we went outside to get our van Bob and Laurel watched over the luggage while Kent and I used the ATM machines near door #4. Some were out of money, but we were able to get some pesos using our Charles Schwab cards that refund all fees. A little confusing trying to decipher the choices in Spanish, but it worked. 

Arriving at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco around noon, I knew there was a good chance our rooms would not be ready. The guy checking us in said he could give us two rooms now IF we were each willing to accept two twin beds instead of the kings we had reserved. You bet. At that point I was so tired I probably would have said OK to a cot in a closet. Our rooms were side-by-side on the 3rd floor of the hotel, overlooking the main street in Santiago...Av Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins.

There were sliding glass doors on our room that lead out to this private outdoor sitting area but it was too hot to use!

Exhaustion trumped hunger at that point so the four of us took a siesta. None of us were anxious to be out in the intense heat during mid-day anyway. (Temps were in the mid-90's!)

A little after 4:00 we left the hotel in search of something to eat. Right next door to our hotel was the Inglesia de San Francisco (San Francisco Church) which dates back to the 1500's and the adjcent Museo Colonial (Colonial Museum.) Neither was open at the time so we walked a bit further and stopped at a McDonalds. I was determined to avoid this type of chain restaurant while we were in South America, but none of us had the energy or desire to seek out a local place to eat. 

Trying to figure out the menu and prices was a bit overwhelming but with some pointing and the Google translate app on my phone, we put in an order (two McPollo meals!) Seating was available upstairs...no AC and it was hot.

After eating we continued our walk, passing by the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile (the National Library of Chile.) 

At the end of the block was a marketplace with all sorts of crafts and souvenir items. It was getting near closing time and there were only a few other shoppers, but we wandered through the various stalls. Laurel made the only purchase...a small stuffed alpaca. 

Across the street from the craft marketplace was the Santa Lucia Hill...something we hoped to explore in the next couple of days. Looking further down the street we could see the hazy, snow covered Andes mountains.

Santa Lucia Hill

After refusing to pay the high cost for cable TV back home, Bob and I have discovered YouTube travel vlogs. It is like having a never-ending supply of travel videos which I love! My favorite vloggers are a young couple from Nashville, TN...Kara and Nate...and I had watched and re-watched their episodes from Santiago in preparation for our trip. They had mentioned how lively the Plaza de Armas was on a Sunday night so that is where we headed next. 

On the way we passed by another beautiful church...the Basilica de la Merced. 

Basilica de la Merced.

It took about 15 minutes or so to walk to the Plaza de Armas and it was full of people. There were many street performers and everyone was just enjoying the warm Sunday evening. 

The National History Museum sits next to the old post office along one side of the plaza.

The Metropolitan Cathedral sits on the western corner of the plaza and we noticed the doors were open so we wandered in. Mass was scheduled to start soon so we quietly walked around the sides of the sanctuary admiring the the art and architecture.

I loved how the old colonial buildings are reflected in the new modern building by the plaza.

A close up view of the ceiling.

Carving above doorway.

Statue outside of church.

Just like locals, we found a place to sit and people watched until it was getting close to dark. Taking a different route back, we found a pedestrian only street that took us right to our hotel.