Not one to be easily *deterred and certainly not by my most recent *escapade in Romania, I decided to try again and head out on a new adventure. I had always wanted to travel around South America; I’d spent two weeks in Colombia back in 2010 and I had a *whale of a time, which drove my desire to explore more of the continent.
I flew to Santiago, Chile in late November 2022. It’s always a worry when you have to say goodbye to elderly parents, but you have to live your own life, all you can do is hug them and pray you’ll see them on your return. I was in a fortunate position that I could work online, so as long as there was good internet and a base to work from, I was set. I chose to base myself in the capital, Santiago. I’d always *romanticised Santiago, it’d just sounded *sophisticated and *exotic, and it’d held a certain *mystique in my mind, ever since I was young lad, although admittedly I didn’t know much about Santiago or Chile for that matter. After some googling, I found that Santiago had some of the fastest internet speeds on the continent; it seemed like a good place to start.
However, my first impressions of the city did not fit with my romanticised *notion, which is often the case. Initially, I found the city pleasant, *albeit a little soulless and *sterile, especially compared to places I’d visited in Colombia on my previous trip to South America 13 years ago. I told myself that it was a good thing; a nice gentle introduction to life back on the continent and I was sure the secrets of the city would reveal themselves to me over time. On the plus side the weather was gorgeous from the get-go, a steady 30c and sunny every day, perfect for exploring.
One of the first things I did upon arrival in the city, and this is something I’d recommend all visitors do to get a good feel for Santiago, is to take the *funicular up Cerro San Cristóbal hill, which is conveniently situated in the heart of the city. An alternative way to the top, for those feeling more energetic, is to hike through the hill’s *lush greenery to the summit providing a *serene escape from the urban *hustle and bustle below. Sitting proudly at the top is the iconic statue of the Virgin Mary, a *manifestation of the importance of Christianity to those she watches over. The panoramic *vistas that she looks out upon are quite spectacular. Whilst gazing out over the urban sprawl below, the *juxtaposition of the flatness of the city spread out before the Andes struck me. One particular image that I noted would make a good screensaver, was the skyscrapers of the financial district in the forefront with The Andes *looming large in the backdrop. The mountains in fact are one of the first, if not the first, things you really notice about the city. Their *omnipresence is inescapable, for instance, one late afternoon as the sun was coming down, I was riding the bus back home and as the bus thundered along one of the main veins out of the city, I looked down an adjacent street as we *whizzed by and bam, they hit me in the face. I squinted from the low sun *perched above the horizon, before it disappeared again behind more buildings. *Out of blue I felt slightly emotionally by this, and then questioned whether I was unstable, a question I often ask myself hehehe, before telling myself that it was a perfectly natural reaction. The mountains finding me is something that happened a lot. They’d catch my eye out of nowhere, and then I was captivated, and my mind would *drift as if in their spell. I’ve always been *mesmerised and drawn to mountains for as long as I can remember, and to be able to look out on to the Andes was something special, but I still wasn’t sure what to make of the city as a whole.
