Our Santiago observations

- 20 raw chickens for sale in a grannies style wheely basket, no ice, no wrapping- very tempting purchase




- totally unsubtle pointing, staring & laughing at jos feet by EVERYONE (she admittedly is wearing five fingers shoes but still..)
- beautiful green spaces & fountains at every turn
- massive fish market with the most incredible assortment, but again no ice, no chilled areas, no covers just out there sweating in 90 degree heat
- the kindness & gentle nature of the locals
- excellent bus stop signs?! A plastic bag sellotaped to a tree, the only giveaway for a newcomer is a group of people randomly stood in a line on the street



- be wary not to take a wrong turn outside the fish market as you will shortly end up in a whore market.. Not that Jo noticed, rather she thought groups of ladies were just gathered chatting on the street.. Bless.
- traffic queue entrepreneurs.. Juggling in the middle of the road..

Santiago in a nutshell - definitely worth a visit & we would definitely come back..
Currently sat at the airport having got up at 5am for an 8am flight to Easter island aka Rapa Nui aka isla de pascua (very confusing when you're asking for directions to check in!) - flight has been delayed for 4hours, very boring!
I have seen people get cross at the airport but nothing quite like this morning where security had to be called as a guy in a yellow jacket was leaning right over the counter swinging at the check-in clerk whilst his wife jumped onto the luggage belt and tried to get around.. All because our flight is delayed?!?




Our bag is that grey one right in the middle - all stacked on one airport trolley I suppose it's the quickest way to transport the baggage to the plane without a truck..

Location:Santiago, Chile

Tango airship

On a normal day when you come across some kind of food or drink promotion, people are handing out treats on the street or in the supermarket unusually rather than taking a wide berth it's actually quite exciting and suddenly you find yourself completely changing your route just so you 'happen' to be passing by that person who's handing out the little chocolate tasters or starbucks samples..
Well, if you get my train of thought then you would have taken advantage of the tango promotion on at Paris airport yesterday too!
You know when you have a bottle of water on the plane with you and when you take off it gets all distorted or when you open a tube of cream and it pours out?
Well, 4 cans later at the airport (my logic is based around the fact that I need to hydrate before getting on a long haul flight) and I'm feeling quite hyper from all the sugar, within a couple of hours of being on the plane I have really bad tummy ache and my trousers are feeling pretty tight, Jo looks down and a look of pure horror spreads across her face .. I follow her stare, OMG.. Ha! Unbelievable I have inflated so much I now resemble Violet from willy wonka (who inflates onto a giant blueberry remember?). Try sitting on a plane for 15hours like this..



Mmm anyway, we are in Santiago now, it is VERY hot, Jo slept for a massive 9 hours on the plane (I think the sleeping tablets I fed her worked! Tee hee - though infact I shot myself in the foot because
that's a VERY long time to not have anyone to talk to/play with) so she is feeling good - walked for ages (sweated prefusely) found a starbucks and if you have never had it chai tea frappacino is AMAZING !



Going investigating properly tomorrow so will report back then - one thing I will say however is that they don't seem to have a 'sign' for Chilean pesos so they use $ which is fine but when U.S.$ are widely accepted as much as pesos it kinda freaks you out when something as simple as a bus ticket is $18,000.. Get your head round that.. Plus 670 pesos to the £1- so most people have a few hundred thousand in the bank, a ton is a coin and a monkey doesn't even buy you a diet coke..
Oh and try typing on a keyboard like this... Spot the difference?



- Posted whilst on the road

Location:Mid-flight / Santiago