Hola Santiago!

Went to bed last night at 8 pm, woke several times. Very dehydrated, drinking lots of water which is very unusual for me. A little traffic noise from the street. Eventually woke at 8.20am with the morning sunrise. yes, that's right. 8.20 sunrise! 

Had breakfast and then set off on the city hop on -  hop off turistik bus. Stop 3 very close to our hotel. $40per ticket. Always a nice way to see the city especially from the top deck of a double decker bus. Felt like we were back on the e-e3 bus as simon and jenny reserved the front seat for Jack. 

Stopped at the "burnside village" of santiago, but shopping malls are the same the whole world over. Interesting to compare prices though. Went into a Merrells shop and the hiking shoes were similar prices, not much cheaper than sale prices at home. left them on the shelf. they did have a Starbucks there and I managed to order a coffee, cheesecake and panini. Boarded the bus again and got off at Bellavista. This is a arty bohemian enclave of Santiago. Trendy cafes and shops. Walked around the backstreets - beautiful spanish - influenced architecture, brightly coloured painted dwellings with decorative and ornate wrought iron window grilles. splashes of bright colours-yellows, greens, purples, all the colours of the rainbow. Liquid refreshments to quench the thirst at a bar, gin alexander for me. Nice warm weather again today, 25c.

Back on the bus, next stop - museum of fine arts. entry $1.20. Magnificent domed hall surrounded by marble sculptures by local artists. Exhibition by Finnish artist Kaarina ? - displaying rows of mens and womens shirts suspended from the ceiling of the Grand Hall. Most of the artwork not to my liking, except for 1 beautiful piece depicting a snow or ice covered mountain range with 2 rainbows in the foreground. A mesmerizing piece of work.

Waiting for the next bus, we practiced our Spanish comparing phrases from Simon's Spanish book and our Latin American phrase book. I think ours is a little more accurate for the local gringo lingo. Back at the hotel to check out, trying to use the wi-fi to blog. Busy traffic during the peak hour. Chilean working hours are generally 8.30-6.15 with 1 hour for lunch for businesses. Factory workers work from 5.30-5.30. Mostly flat terrain in the metro area means that cycling is ideal, though many still drive cars or use buses or the subway trains. The main thoroughfares are tree-lined, with numerous monuments and statues, approx 800 in total in Santiago. 

Nestled on a valley between the Andes and another smaller range. These mountains are shrouded in a haze of dust and pollution, but even in autumn, there is snow evident on a couple of the high peaks. Most of the peaks surrounding Santiago are approx. 2000m. Santiago was named after the apostle, James. Roman Catholicism was the official religion until the 1900's.
First scare of the trip- inadvertantly left my purse in the public toilets at the airport departure lounge. Realised after 5 mins, returned to found it gone. Panicking, I started to look in other cubicles when a young woman asked if I had left a cell phone behind. When I replied yes, she said she had found it and handed it in to security. What a stroke of luck!  I thanked her profusely.

Luckily, it was only my phone and a purse with a few non- essential items. All my money and passport being carried on my person in a money belt! 

Now en-route to Peru, with an evening flight to Lima, due to arrive 2310. Adios Chile, Hola Peru!