Getting lost in Santiago

    On Monday Megan and I decided to head back to Santiago and explore the city before our bus left late at night. We got there around noon, and then had the hardest time figuring out where to go. Skylar told us to go to Bellavista where the downtown is, so after checking our bags at the terminal for the day, we asked around to try to get to Bellavista. The information center at the terminal would not help us with tourist information, but also couldn't tell us where to find tourist information. We couldn't find a map anywhere, and for some reason people just kind of stared at us when we asked for help, like we weren't even speaking Spanish. We couldn't use the bus system in Santiago because we didn't have a card to get on, so eventually someone told us how to get on the underground subway, and we found our way through that to the stop that somebody told us to get off on. They said there would be a horse statue, a university and a river. We couldn't find the river at first and walked the wrong way, asked somebody else, and eventually made it to the bellavista neighborhood for lunch. I was feeling adventurous after all this and tried the ceviche, which was a little weird. However, from the restaurant district we didn't know where to go since we were still without a map, and really wanted to see the old historical buildings and the downtown. So then while kind of wandering back towards where we came, a random man advertising his company on the street pushed a map in our direction, trying to get us to go on his tourbus. It's like he knew that the map was exactly what we needed. This saved our day because he told us where to go to see all the historical buildings. So we were finally able to see Santiago, and climbed the steps of Saint Lucia, a castle on a hill in the city where you can see all of Santiago. We saw the plaza de armas surrounded by all the government buildings, and some old churches.
    After walking all day we were more than happy to get finally sit down on the bus back to Mendoza. Of course, only after buying peanut butter, because you can find real peanut butter in Chile. It was neat walking around the city because I actually remembered a little of the sites from when I was in Chile ten years ago with my parents, but its completely different experiencing it as an adult.

Santa Lucia

View of Santiago

Plaza de Armas