In Search of the Inca

Yesterday we visited San Cristobel Hill, a Santiago landmark and tourist destination. We went fairly early in the morning to avoid the queues. It’s really lovely walking through the city early the massive open spaces and the parks. It’s a great opportunity to take some photos as there weren’t too many people around. Luckily we didn’t have to walk up the hill as there was a funicular railway and as we are over 60 we got a senior ticket much cheaper than the others!!. We met some other tourists who were keen to talk about their experiences travelling in South America. It was interesting to find out what they were going to do and what they had done.

I’ve been a little bit fed up at the food that we’ve had out on this holiday, so we decided to find a recommended vegan café called Sapiens: it was a long walk through a beautiful area of Santiago called Barra Italia. The architecture was so beautiful, really the whole ambience of the place was very, very different and luckily the café served some very tasty food. In fact you got a drink and main course and a pudding in the daytime meal deal. I chose a lemon tart for pudding and it was delicious. Although it was vegan, it was still the tastiest lemon tart I’ve had in my life.

We got home about 4 o’clock having walked 8 miles across the day.

Today we visited another part of Santiago called Barra Lastarria. Our first stop was the ice cream shop that has been recommended on many blogs that I’ve read and oh my goodness, the ice cream was truly delicious. I had two different flavours. The first one was local honey flavoured and gorgeous and the other was pistachio, which is a lifelong favourite . I have to say both were extraordinarily delectable. Paul had pineapple and an exotic fruits flavour. His were a much fresher, citrusy. From there we went to visit an art gallery. The exhibition was thought provoking in its message and the art was stunning. We happily wandered around the various market stalls and streets in the area. It’s very relaxing, and then we decided to go to another gallery as it was too hot to be outside. Among other things it had a lot of protest art and interesting information about the 1970s and 80s and the political unrest in Chile. The city was very busy today and extremely hot again although there was a bit of a breeze. It was a relief to get back to the shelter of the 22nd floor apartment by about 4 o’clock, have a nice cold drink and read for a couple of hours. This evening we went to the Soho Thai restaurant. We had planned to go for Valentine’s but it was fully booked so we went tonight instead. I have to say the food was just beautiful. I had a pad Thai it was the best pad I’ve had for such a long time and definitely the best food I’ve had in South America! I also had a Pisco sour and we had some fresh spring rolls to start. Paul said his massamam curry was amazing too. What a lucky find. Lovely to be able to stroll back through the streets in the evening as it’s still warm and there is still light in the sky until about 9 o’clock. We’re back just before sunset and I can see the mountains in the distance … l love to watch the colours change as the light from the setting sun settles on the mountains.