Don't Rain on our Parade

Our last day in Cusco was a relaxing and uneventful day. We got our haircuts, did laundry, did some shopping, packed our bags, and had lunch. Boring, I know, but it was a nice break from our hectic schedule. We had a late flight on Thursday and arrived in Santiago, Chile at 2:37 am. We took our time and tried to figure out what our next move was going to be once we landed in Chile. We do not like wasting precious time and we are constantly on the move because we have so little time in each country. When we finally figured out what we wanted to do it was almost 3:30 am. When we walked outside the airport we heard a strange sound. It sounded as if it was raining hard but there was no rain, at least not yet. We look over our right shoulder and what do we see? This man posted up behind the entrance door, pants around his ankles, his white butt cheeks hanging out, and him just peeing up a storm. Aaron and I looked at each other and started laughing hysterically. We knew Chile was going to be wild.

We finally arrived at the Bellavista hostel around 4:30am. We got into the room, threw our stuff down and just passed out. We woke up at about 9am and had a quick breakfast at the hostel. We then decided to do a wine tour because Chile is known for their wine and well, we were thirsty. We did the premium tour at Viña Cousiño Macul winery and it was quite interesting. The wine was really good and we even got to take home a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. After the wine tour we went and had lunch/dinner at a restaurant that I do not remember the name of. The weather was so bad on Friday that we did no sightseeing whatsoever. It was raining cats and dogs and we did not want to get drenched. So went straight back to the hostel to dry up and relax. The weather pretty much ruined our first day in Chile, which was a bummer. We talked to our hostel roommates Annick (from Switzerland) and Yessica (from Germany) for a few hours, they were really cool and we got along with them very well. So we all decided to sign up for the pub crawl of Santiago that night, even though it was raining like crazy. It was super fun and we all had a blast karaokeing and dancing the night away. The rain ruined our day, but we did not let it ruin our night.

Day 2- We had a bit of a late start today and woke up at about 10:30 ish. Today, the weather was supposed to be a little better, so today we wanted to sight see and tour the city. Our hostel roommate, Yessica, joined us and we started the day by visiting a history museum, then we tried our luck at the two most popular markets in Santiago, the Vega central and Mercado central markets. It was crazy packed with people everywhere. When we got to the markets it was an all-out war for our money. People were constantly coming up to us asking us if we wanted to buy their product. We kept saying no and continued walking but it was getting annoying. So we went upstairs and it was the same thing except people kept wanting us to eat at their restaurant. We came to a cross section and we were hungry. So when we started looking at a menu, two other workers from different restaurants were shoving menus in our faces and explaining why we should eat at their restaurant. It was a bidding war. Aaron was getting bombarded with menus and people. I stood back and laughed because it was insane. Aaron started forgetting about the food and asked who had wifi, that is who the winner would be, he said. But then out of the blue, this woman shouted that she would lower her price of the food if we choose her. When she said that, Aaron said, "you win, we choose you". The other servers complained in disgust and when after the next set of people that walked by. We made the right choice eating at Sabores Divinos because Aaron and I ordered seafood rice and spicy beef chow mien and it was amazing. After lunch we decided to sign up for a walking tour of Santiago. It took us a while to find Waldo (yes, that is who we were looking for). The walking tour took us by numerous sights including the Bella vista art building, Plaza de Armas, Metropolitan Cathedral, and the university of something (I forgot what exactly it is called because it wasn't that interesting). The tour was nothing spectacular and we could've just done it by ourselves, but it was free and we learned something new.

After the tour we decided to check out the Castillo Hidalgo, we would have liked to go inside but, unfortunately it was closed for the day. We then walked about 12 more blocks and just checked out the town until we got back to our hostel. We showered up and then we all went out to dinner at Galindos. Luckily, it was close by so we didn't have to walk far. Our tour guide recommended this restaurant and told us that we could try some fine Chilean cuisine. Yessica and I shared two entrees. We ordered the pastel del choclo and the cazuela de pollo. The choclo was amazing. It is this dish that looks kind of like a pie. The bottom layer has chicken, raisins, beef, black olives, onions, and egg inside of it. The top layer is made of sweetcorn and it is baked to perfection to make the crusty top layer. It was so good, I highly recommend trying it. The cazuela de pollo was a type of soup with a full chicken in it, corn, potatoes, and carrots. It was good as well, but I really liked the pastel del choclo. Aaron got some type of sandwich with beef in it. Not sure what the name was exactly but he seemed to like it considering he ate the whole thing in under 3 minutes.

When dinner was finished, we all rolled our way back to the hostel because we were all stuffed like turkeys. We decided to have an easy and early night by just visiting a few of the local pubs before calling it night so that we were well rested for the adventurous day ahead.

Day 3- Today we woke up at 6:30 am and headed straight to the ski rental place because we decided to hit the slopes and spend the day shredding the Andes Mountains. It was a perfect day for boarding. The sun was shining bright, the wind was non-existent, and we were ready to rock. After an hour and a half drive up the mountains, we finally made it to Valle Nevado. We hopped out of the van, slapped on our boots, and headed for the mountain. If only it was that easy. Unfortunately for Aaron, his day was off to a rocky start. As we were walking to the resort, Aaron realized that he didn't have his lift ticket because he had left it in his gym bag which was in the van. He started running after the van as it was driving away and after 30 minutes of looking for the van, he had no luck. While Aaron was searching for the van, Ryan (our hostel buddy who came with us) and I decided to hit the slopes. I left a note for Aaron on his snowboard to meet up with us later in the day. After about an hour or so, we met up with Aaron and he told us that he couldn't find the driver and had to pay for another lift ticket (typical Aaron move). The funniest thing happened to Aaron on one of the lifts and I must share. In Chile, they have single person lifts that you hold onto as it takes you up the mountain. Think of it as a moving rope that helps you walk uphill. Well, Aaron and I have never used one of these before because they don't exist in California. I went first. It took me a while to hold the thing and stay straight but I figured it out and was on my way up the mountain. Aaron, however, had other ideas. He grabbed onto the metal pole, stumbled a bit, lost his balance, tried again but he still couldn't get it. Then he tried one more time and as it yanked him uphill, he lost his balance, fell onto the snow BUT he was still holding onto the pole. So the pole was dragging Aaron across the snow as he was hanging on for dear life. I could not stop laughing, it was the funniest thing I've seen all trip. If you've ever been wake boarding then you will have an idea of what it looks like. Imagine a wake boarder trying to get up as the boat starts moving but can't get up, yet they still hold onto the rope. So the boat pulls them across the water as they drown. That's the best comparison as to what it looked like. It was hilarious.

Anyways, we had an amazing day of snowboarding and couldn't have asked for better snow. It was perfect. We got back to the hostel around 8 or so and we were completely exhausted but we were starving. So we showered up and walked to this little food truck a few blocks from our hostel. We were all craving the famous churrasco sandwich that Chileans are known for. It is probably one of the best sandwiches that I have ever had in my life. If you are in Chile make sure you try one, you will not be disappointed.

We ate the sandwiches at our hostel and chit chatted with our new friend Ryan before saying goodbye and packing for our next flight that will be heading to Buenos Aires. However, there was still one thing on our to-do list that we did not get to do and that was to hike to Cerro San Cristóbal, which is a big statue on top of a mountain. So we decided to wake up at 6:30 am the next day and catch the sunrise from atop the mountain. Even though we were sore and tired, we managed to make the hike and arrived just in time to see the sunrise over Santiago. It was a beautiful view and well worth the hike. A must-do if you are ever in Santiago.

Overall, our experience in Chile was a good one. The hostel we stayed at wasn't the greatest and I would advise you to try your luck at a different hostel. Other than that, we had fun, met new friends, and created more memories that will last forever. We did not let the terrible weather ruin our precious time in Santiago, Chile.

Snowboarding it up in the Andes mountains

#snowboarding #travel #Santiago #Chile