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We had a lovely sleep last night from 11.30pm all the way through to 9.45am this morning! We had a lazy morning, getting ready and catching up with emails and left the hostel around 12.15pm, bound for the city centre. We walked along Augustinas into the city centre (being beeped and whistled at along the way), en-route we stopped by the Plaza de Constitution for wander and a few photos. On reaching the centre there were many small street vendors selling, what looked like sweetcorn drink, and accessories (scarfs, bags, ear-rings, beaded necklaces, etc), all cheap as chips (and this is supposed to be the most expensive country in South America!). We reached the Plaza de Armas, a 'square' with many artist selling their wears (quite Covent Garden like) and borded by many stunning buildings including Correo Central, Santiago Cathedral, Art Museum and the National Museum. We had a walk around and did the usual tourist thing before walking the short distance up the road to Mercado Central and wandered round the fish market (not as much as a hub as Japan was) and settled on a cute, cheap 'restaurant' for lunch (marine soup - Laura, Shellfish Pie - Sarah, although it was more like a really thick soup with parmasan cheese on top!). After another wander through to the central part of the 'hall' (which was built in 1835 in Birmingham, so Sarah was informed by one of the restaurant owners) and out the other side where we walked across the bridge over the 'lovely' river and into la vega market (fruit) to grab some fresh produce! We then went back to the Plaza de Armas and went inside the beautiful Santiago Cathedral before settling on a bench for a while, people watching to the sounds a Chilean preacher. We then walked towards Cerro Santa Lucia, stopping to peer into Iglesia de la Mercad (Cathedral). On reaching Cerro Santa Lucia, we saw an outside lift that we went up and realised that that was the way to get in! The complex actually looked like someone's house and grounds that they had openned up to the public (the 'house' wasn't open though). Back down the lift, we wondered along the streets back towards Augustinas, looking at Municipla Theatre en-route, which unfortunately had renovation going on right infront of it, so we couldn't get a very good photo.
Back at the hostel, Sarah enjoyed a brief sun-soak as Laura checked the Steelers scores before having a dinner of strawberries and nectarines and settled in the TV room before bed.
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