Hola de Santiago de Chile!
Well, here I am! In South America! Its 30 degrees in Santiago with blue skies but I am exhausted after my 24hr journey and I fell asleep in a church earlier!
Ben and I left Gatwick 1pm yesterday on a flight to Atlanta, Georgia. The flight was pretty empty and we got chatting to this crazy guy who worked on lighting stadiums (and got ordained as a priest even though he was Jewish..??) who was off to Nashville for a business meeting. He was telling us that his brother used to drum for Morrissey (and told us a few secrets about him) and that he hated flying so he just gets very drunk during flights. At one point he woke me up from a quick nap because he had bought me a glass of champagne to have with him. Which was very nice of him. Well, couldnt really turn him down… and that alone was a 9 hour flight so we landed in the US at 10pm (5pm local time).
As everyone knows, you shouldnt joke around with US immigration officials… so what does Farrah do? Starts asking the Official stupid questions. I wrote on my landing card that I was just in transit and he saw that and scribbled ´Chile´next to it. So I asked him how he knew. “I know everything about you” he says without smiling. “I have known everything about you since you got here”. So I just look at him. And he says “Why are you going to Chile?” “For some fun”. “Why?” “Because I think it will be exciting”. Then he takes my picture and I pull a stupid face. And then he fires a quick round of random questions at me, stamps my passport and off I go. Hmmmn. we had to wait til 3am (10pm there) to catch our connecting flight to Chile.
We just dossed about in departures really and then on the flight we probably only got about 4 or 5 hours sleep and confusingly Chile is further west than Georgia yet the time difference with the UK returns to just 3 hours behind instead of 5… anyway arrived at Arturo Merino airport and just pretended we knew where we were going and jumped in a mini van with 2 American backpackers to our hostel in Barrio Bellavista. They were returning from going around the south and recommended it but said it can get really windy but they had gone trekking across the Andes and into Argentina which all sounds exciting… Bellavista Hostel is apparenly one of the top 10 best places to stay in the world, hostel-wise so, Sue and anyone else venturing here you might want to look it up. Its in a really cool neighbourhood with loads of bars and restaurants around and there´s loads of facilities here (email being one 🙂 ) and a cool roof terrace and its just round the corner from Parque Metropolitano. Once Ben and I got round to getting washed up and we weren´t feeling so spaced (we are in a dorm with an English guy called Martin who disappeared to go wine-tasting) we caught the funicular up to the top of the hill (and I dont mind telling you that its 48 degree angle did worry me a bit) and you can see the whole of the city spawling out towards the Andes. We wandered around for a bit and then I sat in a chapel atop the hill and it was cool and pleasant so I had a quick nap, hehehe! And thats it so far for today. First impressions of Chileans are that they are lovely, they speak English really well (although we have been attempting to speak Spanish first) and Chilean children are all beautiful (but DO NOT make me broody). Oh and pesos are awkward to deal with in that 1000 pesos is equal to a quid which is fine but it all gets confusing when you start dealing in big bucks and you need to double check you are getting the right change and so on.. Farrah needs a good night sleep….
Heading for the coast in a coupla days and gonna meet up with our Canadian buddy Ray when he flies in also in a coupla days. All OK here. Hope everyones cool, thanks for all the tips and well wishes and stuff, love to you all!
F xx
Tags: Chile, santiago, South America, Travel
PixieDoux
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