Santiago, Chile

October 18

We have officially started our post cruise adventure! We have rented a two bedroom apartment in beautiful downtown Santiago.  It is small to say the least, ‘cozy’ for 7 of us.  All we did was get some groceries and relaxed for the night. – Shawn

October 19

We started to explore today.  After a bit of difficulty, we have figured out the subway system, it is very slick and pretty cheap to use.  We went to the city center, the Plaza de Armas.  We have noticed that it is very clean here, especially when compared to the other Latin American countries we have been to.  The kids were very thrilled to see the police officers on horseback.- Shawn

October 20

Today we are still in Santiago, Chile.  We went to the San Christobal Park.  At San Christobal park we got a picture with a real llama and my little brother Gabe got to ride it.  The llama was very cute and very fuzzy.  After the llama we went to the funriculairs .  After the funriculairs my grandpa lost his sunglasses.  Then we went to go get some churros, they were really delicious.  After that we went on a gondola, it was very fun!- Danika

 

We got to climb many stairs and went to see an idol of Mary.  This park gave us amazing views of Santiago.  Dad (me) finally broke down and let the kids pet a stray dog……they are literally everywhere here.  The locals seem to feed and water them.  The kids hands were so dirty after this, that I think even they were grossed out.  We then ate at a restaurant and had a Chilean BBQ.  It was my favourite day thus far on our trip.  We found out at night that Saturday night is the party night around here.  It was very loud until about 1 in the morning. – Shawn

Oct 21

We decided to take a 90 minute bus ride and go see two cities called Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.  We took a tour that brought us by Casa La Sebastiana, up and down the very narrow and steep streets, by a flower clock, to the ocean and we got to see a statue that was a gift from Rapa Nui (Easter Island).  It was a ‘touristy’ way to see these two places.  They were very dirty!  Gabe apparently has started a stray dog count today, total….63 dogs. – Shawn

Oct 22

We had a low-key day today, we went to the Mercando Central and had a Chilean staple….the empanada.  We saw police officers on horses and Danika almost asked them to pet the horses, maybe next time.  Gabe’s stray dog count – 29.