Our time in Oz had come to an end (for now) and we were very sad to say goodbye as we have had many happy homes and lovely friends along the way!

Lovely Emma kindly dropped us to the airport and we had a few vinos before heading to Sydney. We stayed with Aline, Simon and Amelie (and their lovely dogs) for two nights and also caught up with Rebek and Marc before heading off on our trip to Santiago – it was so nice to see everyone and hang out in Sydney, where it all started 18 months before.

We had a beautiful sunny day, relaxing in the botanic gardens with views of the opera house and harbour bridge on our last day (Thursday) – it was the perfect send off!

Our flight was at 12pm on Friday and we would be landing at 11am on Friday in Santiago, so the jet-lag was going to be interesting but it was a great flight and time flew by (pardon the pun), with the help of wine, more wine and the odd film.

We managed to sleep a little but felt rather spaced out when we arrived in Chile – staring in awe at the Andes out of the window when we came in to land! They were extremely impressive and a nice welcome in to Santiago!

After a hairy taxi ride through the hustle and bustle of the city, we arrived at our lovely hotel located in Santa Isabel, which seems to be the arty/design district so I was very pleased about that. The hotel was really lovely and we were greeted by a massive comfy bed – which unfortunately made it very easy to nap (not good for the jet lag) !

At least it was siesta time in Santiago!

We decided we would venture in to the city the following day and just stay in Santa Isabel that night, wandered the streets with little art galleries, design shops and multi coloured houses. There was furniture being upholstered in the streets and lots of nice little bars, so we sat outside drinking Pisco Sours to get ourselves settled in to Chile! After a few more Pisco Sours and a BBQ, we were off back to the hotel to sleep ready for a day of exploring the following day.

Breakfast was amazing – homemade granola, gorgeous pancakes, eggs and lots of yummy coffee – we were now full and ready to take on the city!

We made our way up the Funicular to get a view of the city and queued with all of the other tourists, watching llamas dressed in hats pass by. It was impressive at the top, with the Virgin Mary, and the view was great but the fog over the city was coming in quickly so soon there wasn’t much to see.

We walked down the mountain, avoiding more queues, which was actually really lovely. There were hundreds of cyclists, runners and walkers out and it was a good warm up for our trek in the coming days. Venturing through the forest we saw a very random medieval sword fight – as you do.

The tree lined streets felt quite American, but then the houses looked quite Japanese, so we couldn’t really relate it to anywhere we had been before. Santiago was definitely an up and coming place, with lots going for it.

The centre was very busy with traffic and street vendors and by this point we had walked up an appetite and were ready for a fish filled lunch at the Central (fish) Market. We had been advised to eat in the small restaurants around the market to get the real local experience, as the restaurants in the centre were very touristy and overpriced. So there we were sitting at a tiny table, with sawdust on the floor, ready for a yummy meal. The waiters didn’t speak much English, so weren’t overly sure what we were getting, but one thing was for sure – the fish was nice and fresh! Coming straight from the shops market stall as you ordered it.

Lunch was delicious and after a bit more wandering we made our way back to our hotel, to get prepared for our trip to Patagonia the following morning! Preparations consisted of napping, drinking wine and more napping before eventually packing – oops not a great success. By that point it was time to eat again so we had a late pizza (Italian food is great in Santiago) and had a very very good nights sleep!

E & R x