(Paul started this post Tuesday but got frustrated with how crappy Blogger is on mobile devices, so I'm going to finish it and then catch you up with everything else that's been happening.)
Unfortunately the Chilean national holidays, along with a bout of fever for Mario, has put paid to our campervan search for the time being. Instead we decided to spend the day exploring the nearby Cerro San Cristobal, a large, incongruous hill in the middle of an otherwise flat Santiago. We decided to use the funicular to get to the top of the hill....a wise decision we realised on the way down as we passed several groups of sweaty, unhappy looking people making the gruelling trip up the hill!
At the top, you get a spectacular view - massive city of Santiago with mountains in the background. It's nuts! There's a statue of the Virgin Mary at the very top and lots of refreshment stalls. Mario had told us about mote con huesillos - a traditional Chilean drink made by cooking whole dried peaches in sugar and water, served with some sort of wheat:
I (Christine) really enjoyed it, Paul found it too sweet. It's a bit like the sweet Chinese soups my mum makes, although this is served ice cold. Paul had a Brazilian ice cream called Brigadeiro.
We walked down San Cristobal hill and ended up in the Bellavista neighbourhood, which has lots of bars with outdoor drinking. The weather has got a lot warmer already, especially in the sun, so we sat down for a beer. They bring you 1l bottles though, so with me being a lightweight, Paul had to drink most of it (oh the pain!)
On the walk back, we passed the Telefonica building that's designed to look like a mobile phone.
