Things come in threes and they certainly did in my last 24hrs in Santiago! My ¨last¨ day in Santiago was spent walking, visiting, looking and bopping to the likes of Bananarama, Bros, DuranDuran blaring from shops - Felt like I had gone back 20 years! Loved it!
I spent some time in El Parque de las Esculturas, (Park of Sculptures) and the walked to El Cerro, a hill from which the view of Santago is just gorgeous, especially at sunset. In the process, my digital camera (Thing No.1) decided it had had enough of this lifetime and promptly broke. Not happy Jan!!
I went up El Cerro by funicluar, an almost vertical tram and sat infront of the huge statue of the Virgin Mary. Although I´m not religious, she is rather beautiful and extremely calming. I had bought a ticket to get the teleferico down the hill...And found the perfect shot to take with my manual camera to show that it definitely was a little scary...The shutter on my manual camera jams and refuses to work (Thing No.2)...After 45 minutes at the top of the hill trying my damn hardest to fix it, tears welled in my eyes. No more photos...My baby was broken...
Do wish I had photos from the teleferico...It was just beautiful to watch the reflection of the red and orange hues over the glass buildings of a very modern Santiago. There was a slight scare on my part when the doors, to the particular bubble I was in, did not close...I sat furthest away from the door. The gap closed just before it left the station...Phew!
Katerina and I had decided to have a quiet night, after the lack of sleep on the weekend. We caught up for a drink and dinner with one of her friends from work, Pamela. The three of us went to La Meridiana, a restaurant where one cooks their food on a hot plate in the middle of the table...Well, after a few bottles of vino blanco, and a few pisco sours....Let´s just say it wasn´t the early night we had intended on. Boy did we laugh, cry, hug and share stories! Brilliant night - Muchas Gracias!
The next day, off I went to the airport and was promptly told by lovely LanChile lady that the flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to take the next day´s flight....So Santiago and Katerina had me for one more night!
To apologise for the inconvenience, (yeah right, I´m on holidays with no fixed schedule...) I now am the proud owner of two free flights with LanChile...I was tempted to ask that if they bumped me off one of those, would I then receive another voucher for free flights...Instead I just smiled, and thought ¨This means I´ll be back!¨
So now, a day later than originally planned, here I am in Quito, Ecuador...Other than more modern than I would have thought, busy, and super colourful, my first impressions can be summed up in four words: Bring on the thermals!
Yep the 2850m of altitude, can definitely be felt - And not only in the temperature, but in the air...Altitude hides oxygen and sometimes the easiest things feel rather difficult. Had better get used to it if I´m going to be climbing mountains!
I´m living with a lovely family in el norte of the city, and today caught el trole (pron. trol-eh - like a tram) to my first Spanish lesson. Yay! Feel like I´m doing better already. The cheekiest 3yr old lives at the place I´m staying...He´s been teaching the animals...
Getting here just as Easter is about to start is interesting with the different things being prepared, (I will be eating franesca this evening - a traditional soup eaten only at Easter made of fish and different types of beans,) however in the next couple of days most things will be closed...So, I´m planning to get out of Quito, hopefully exploring the Otavalo markets on Saturday, and going to the Equator on Sunday...It´s got to be done!!
Hasta Luego Mis Amigos!
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