“Uh… I think I know why we heard a siren,” Feng said. He pointed to one of the hills. On a clear day like this, the giant cloud of smoke was unmissable.
“Uh… I think I know why we heard a siren,” Feng said. He pointed to one of the hills. On a clear day like this, the giant cloud of smoke was unmissable.
January 1 was spent adjusting and doing nothing. We had expected the city to be dead and it was.
This is how December 31 started for us in Santiago. We wandered around the stalls of the busy street markets around Estación Central and watched Santiaguinos buying yellow undies and party supplies...
The problem with Mark’s deal is that we didn’t exactly leave right away. You guessed it, the flight was late. And we were sent to the de-icing station once again.
The Plaza is packed, as usual. Kids bath in the fountain (no Mark, you can't, sorry), run around, climb on the Statue of Pedro de Valdivia. Adult play chess or listen to the very loud preachers.
Here are my random thoughts on Santiago. No, I didn't write them on the walls.
Chile's fast food choice is the perrito caliente with a mound of different condiments.
The tiger yawned and turned his head before going back to sleep, dreaming of the great comida por kilo buffet he could have if only the kids weren't outside the cage.
We dropped off a giant bag of dirty laundry at the lavandería and headed to the Santiago Metropolitan Park to climb the cerro San Cristóbal, the second highest hill in the city.
How do you know you are on a Chilean beach? It's easy: most people keep their clothes on.
Valparaíso has a split personality, it's a place of contrasts. The gritty puerto versus the artsy hills.
After five days in Santiago, it was time to take a break and see the Pacific Ocean again. Like many Chileans, we escaped to Valparaíso, a two-hour bus ride from the capital.
We step inside La Merced. It's dark inside and there are people praying, or at least that's what I assume they are doing with their heads bowed. Maybe they are eating a hot dog after all, who knows?
Santiago is way more multicultural than I remember it.
Santiago is a giant open-air market. Everywhere you go, there is someone selling something. Watermelons. Fruit salad in a cup, plastic fork included. Lottery tickets. Shoeshine services. Fortune...
Dry air. The Andes. Dust. Hills. Heart-attack inducing prices in the thousands until you realize 5,000 Chilean Pesos are US$10.
It was quick. And brutal. This was the kind of flight were the seat belt sign stays on for the entire time and no one walks in the alley, including flight attendants.
From the dry desert to the humid jungle, from cobblestone-paved streets to muddy roads, from urban Santiago to Puerto Iguazú —the contrast couldn’t be bigger. From Valparaíso, we bused back to...
I was actually sad to leave Chile. I really enjoyed Valparaíso, and I felt very comfortable in Santiago. The city had everything I enjoy as a traveler: culture, art, parks, sights, pedestrian...
Is it a good idea to take a two-year old on a spontaneous boat trip on the deep water of the Pacific Ocean? This is the kind of question I should have researched on parenting forums—if only I was...
Whenever I arrived in a new city, I’m thirsty. Not literally (although I can be), but I want to explore, see and absorb as much as I can. Even if it means going up and down steep streets. Much...
We wanted to go somewhere in Chile, but we were not sure where exactly. This is a big country… or rather a long and narrow strip of land, stretching from Arica to Patagonia. Eventually, we...
One of the best places in Santiago is up the hill, in the Parque Metropolitano. In there, you can escape the busy pedestrian streets, enjoy a great view of the city and relax away from the traffic...
When was the last time you tasted something without knowing that it was? We live in such a globalized world that this experience is becoming fairly rare—I mean, even my grand-mother know what sushis...