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Our visit to Toronto has come and gone and we are now in Chile! I will put up an entry for our Toronto visit when I gather some pictures to go along with all the things we did while we were there, but for now, lets talk about Santiago.
We arrived in Santiago after an 11 hour long flight direct from Toronto. It was a great flight and both Andrew and I slept for most of the overnight voyage. I have learned my lesson now and purchased 2 packs of Maltesers, which coupled with more chocolate and a Cosmo magazine (thanks Voula!) made the trip much more enjoyable.
We have been very lucky to know some people in Santiago! Tony's family live here and we were greeted by his cousin and driven to his parents apartment in Santiago. What else could a traveler on a budget ask for?? Thanks Tony and Noosha!!!
Our first destination was the Cerro San Cristbal (cerro means Hill in Spanish) and visited the Statue of the Virgin Mary at the top. They have a really cool cable car that took us to the top of the 880 m hill. Apparently Pope John Paul visited this place in 1987 and performed mass! The views of Santiago from up here were breathtaking, literally!! You can see the blanket of smog that covers the city from the hilltop, we did not want to go back down!!
The next day, we basically roamed the streets looking for interesting things. And I found many interesting things, all of which are edible :) What Santiago lacked in sights, it made up for in gastronomy! I enjoyed the most amazing Meringue cookies of all time, along with some Pastel de Choclo and some awesome Empanadas!!! If you have never had pastel del choclo, visit Kensington market in Toronto and find the Chilean store there, they have a great PdC as well!!
So after 3 days in Santiago, we took a 2 hour bus to Valparaiso. This is a beach town which is totally happening in the summer. Right now, in the middle of winter, all the beaches are closed, but the restaurants and bars are still open for buisness and we have already enjoyed a great lunch and are looking forward to a great night of live music at the bar across the street from our hostel which is supposed to have amazing entertainment into the wee hours of the night :)
I will update you again as soon as we get a chance. Love and miss you all!
xoxoxoxo, Yasi and Andrew
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