Santiago de Chile

Okay so we had to get to Santiago as that was where Grahams flight to New Zealand was departing from. We weren`t too fussed about visiting big cities (we`d come from Buenos Aires) but spent a couple of days there anyway, with a view to head to the coast after Graham got his flight.

I got the impression that its not as vibrant a place as BsAs or (I`ve read) Rio De Janiero - its definitely not a 24 / 7 city and the locals definitely seemed a lot more reserved. Having said that quite they were on the whole quite friendly (despite the Chilean - Argentinian issues) and there are some fantastic views to be had from the various hills within the city centre.




Theres also some impressive architecture, despite the city having been damaged repeatedly by earthquakes - so much so that there were emergency instructions in most of the hostels we stayed at on what to do if one took place. Standing under a doorway is apparently the safest place to be ...


This ones the Museo Nacional de las Bellas Artes.

This is a cathedral in the central Plaza de las Armas, adjacent to the Correo Central.

And heres the Correo Central de Santiago - Look familiar? For me its a "mini-me" to its BsAs counterpart.

In this last photo, picturesque as it may be, the low sitting cloud over the city we later found out to be smog - apparently Santiago has one of the worst pollution problems in all of South America.