Riding the Metro
First thing I thought when coming into the Santiago Metro was: Paris! This smells like the Paris Metro. I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but I feel every city has a distinct smell in its public transport system – and I don’t refer to a potential pee problem. The smells are hard, or impossible […] Read More
Merry Christmas from Santiago
My last day in Santiago was Navidad. The city was much more quiet – a lot of coffee shops and restaurants already closed during the day. Yesterday I did some last minutes Xmas shopping with Sebastian, he took me to an area full of old warehouses or markets, with little stalls where people were looking […] Read More
La Jardin
A friend told me about La Jardin. I had passed it already once, looked into the courtyard, found it curious but hadn’t bothered to look closer. Epic Fail! I have to be more curious. La Jardin is a vagabond restaurant. It started in London as a private project called The Pale Blue Door, and has […] Read More
Night out
Last night I met up with Hannah and her friends for some drinks in a cute bar and restaurant Ciudadano in Barrio Italia. We had beers and ate something, the night was really mild… Santiago is hot during the day, but the nights can see temperatures drop quite sharply. It’s always good to have something […] Read More
Humita
Finally I got to try the Chilean specialty called Humita. I had eaten empanadas in Argentina filled with something called Humita, but this was different. Humita is a Native American dish from pre‑Hispanic times, and a traditional food in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. It consists of masa harina and corn, slowly steamed or […] Read More
Social life (Part II)
After all the excitement of the trip to Valparaíso, quiet days ahead in Santiago. Friday saw me doing my laundry, having breakfast in a café, spending time at a pool, sorting pics, flickr-ing and blogging, having another (iced) coffee… And in the evening I was set to go out for dinner or drinks with a […] Read More
South Pacific beach tour
It wasn’t particularly sunny on the last day in Valparaíso, but I wanted to see the South Pacific Ocean, and so Seb took me to Viña del Mar for a walk on the beach and a quick toe dip into the cold water. We held siesta on the beach, then took another bus that drove […] Read More
Sights, smells and sounds
Valparaíso is… hard to describe. It has its grand, old buildings, and all this little ones, full of graffiti, some really run down… it’s not a nice city as such. It doesn’t have any specific, must-see sights, maybe except the house of Pablo Neruda which I missed. But it’s a sight in itself. No wonder […] Read More