It had been seven years since the last time I was in Chile. I’ve never been particularly fond of Santiago despite spending a month there in 2016 and passing through in 2005 on my way to Tierra del Fuego. That being said, I realize that I have never really done Santiago “right.” I’ve stayed in inconvenient neighborhoods and not really taken advantage of the features of the city that so many locals enjoy. Since I am spending an increasing amount of time in South America, and Santiago is such a convenient hub for launching into Patagonia and other destinations up and down Chile, it would be really convenient if I could find a reason to want to come back, for longer and make Santiago part of my regular rotations, like Bogotá and Mexico City. So when I was leaving Mexico, en route to Brazil, I took the opportunity to stop over in Santiago for three days. I only had three nights, so I picked a new neighborhood to stay in, Providencia, in hopes of experiencing a new side of the city. I found Providencia for working and staying. Lots of hustle and bustle of morning work commuters, plenty of restaurants […]
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I visited Santiago, Chile for the first time twelve years ago as the gateway to my first South American adventure. American Airlines was running a promotion that gave a free international round-trip ticket anywhere in the world that the airline flew in exchange for buying a round-trip ticket to Florida and California. I did a weekend trip with my roommate Nick to Fort Lauderdale and then I must have visited my sister in California (because she’s the only person I knew in California at the time). When redeeming, I chose the destination that American flew furthest away from Boston, Massachusetts where I was living which turned out to be Santiago. I spent a few days exploring Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and the Cajon del Maipo — of which Santiago I found the least interesting; I didn’t see much personality in it. I continued elsewhere throughout Chile and Argentina having decided there was nothing I need come back for in Santiago. I did return though and this time around, though it was just for 11 days, it felt like a lot longer. Nothing much has changed including my rather offensive opinion that Santiago doesn’t have much going for it from a travelling gringo perspective. It’s […]
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