Exploring Santiago: Day 5

We started our day early on Sunday. Church was at 9am, so there was no sleeping in. We took a taxi to church because it would have been a 45 minute walk because the metro was closed till about 5pm. Reese found out that the metro workers are on a strike so the metro is closed every Sunday till about 5 or 6pm. Anyways, we only stayed for the first hour, but chatted to the Bishop for a few minutes after and he was really nice. The building is exactly like anyother church building. There seems to be quite a lot of vandalism done to buildings here in Santiago, so there is a tall fence around it and burglar bars on the windows. I have to admit it was hard for me to keep my eyes open. I knew what was going on of course, I just couldn't understand a word. So it kind of put me to sleep.

After church we walked back to the hotel (which took 45 minutes) to change and go exploring. I decided to wear my running shoes since we would be walking a lot since the metro was closed. Reese thinks we walked about 8 miles yesterday. I have to admit, it felt like a lot more. After walking back from church and changing, we left the hotel around 11am and didn't get home till about 8pm that evening. I feel like we saw the whole of Santiago we walked so much!

Here is a picture of the beginning of our walk. Beautiful scenery don't you think?

Reesey tired of me stopping to take pictures and it was only the second one of the day!

Sunday was really hot. It was 35 degree's cels. (about 95 degree's f.) and the sun is just like the South African sun. A lot fiercer. I think it's a southern hemisphere thing. When we got home that evening I had to take a shower. We both burnt a bit on our noses and backs of our necks. I felt like the sun had burnt me through my clothes! Agh- I've become such a wussy.

Already starting to get sticky and sweaty from the heat.

Our first stop of the day was about an hour and a half walk from the hotel. The district is called Bella Vista. It's a really hip part of town where all the clubs are. There is also the zoo, a little flea market, and of course... lots of icecream shops. Once we got there we first took a break on some park benches. There are pigeons ALL OVER SANTIAGO. And they are annoying. They're not scared of you and they get in the way. They're also gross and full of germs. The group that refused to fly away right by us had a couple of flirters. (If thats even a word). There were a couple of boy pigeons (I'm just assuming all of this) trying to impress girl pigeons. It was quite cute in a dirty pigeon way.

It looks like he's hurt or something right? Well he isn't. A few boy-looking pigeons would walk near girl-looking pigeons and then sit just like this one is sitting. And the girl pigeon would watch, and slowly get closer to him. This guy probably sat like that for a good 5 minutes.

Then they starting making-out... Or whatever you call pigeon kissing. Reese thinks I am crazy for taking pictures of the pigeons. He's right- for all I know these could be two males fighting or siblings playing or something like that. Oh well, still cute!

The pigeons obviously rubbed off on this couple. Talk about PDA! I am glad the tree was in the way. And speaking of pda, you see it all the time now. No one seems to care or even notice the people really. There was a couple a few days ago who were making-out right by the exit of the metro. Right in the way of everybody. Just standing there, doing their thing not caring one bit. Ugh. Reese and I think it's gross. We're clearly not from here.

After the love birds we went to La Chascona. Its this massive house, turned museum, where the famous writer Pablo Neruda lived. Reese is standing next to pillars that have some of his work written on them.

Don't you wish you had a outdoor amphitheatre at your house?

A different view with some wall art.

A cool strip of coloured houses. Most flats and houses in Santiago have burglar bars. I've even seen a few electric fences.

More wall art.

From Bella Vista we walked another hour or so to Barrio Paris-Londres. Its a few streets with European inspired architecture. Some parts of the street are really run-down, but for the most part it's really pretty!

Reese says "Welcome to London Town" in his Wyatt voice.

My favourite out of all the different designs. 

I love these lamp posts! They remind me of Harry Potter actually.

Some more pictures of the street:

Next we walked to the Palace of Moneda. This is where the bad President and military took over. I believe this is where Chilean President's used to live. And this is where the President was found dead when they took over the city. It seems like there are also a lot of important government buildings around the Palace so I can see why this was the place the military wanted to take over. Can you believe the USA helped the bad guy get into power. See what happens when people can't mind their own business!

I wouldn't mind living in this Palace!

So happy I wore my running shoes. I would have been miserable otherwise.

Reese evaluating the damage done...

And a couple more pictures of the area:

The sun doesn't set here till about 9pm during the summer, so it almost feels like we're eating lunch when it's dinner time. We went back to the Plaza De Armas to find something to eat for dinner. Oh- we had McDonalds for lunch. It was really expensive because they don't have that many here, and a lot better than the McDonalds in the States.

Anyways, we were walking down the street and we saw this guy doing tricks with a soccer ball. There had been a big soccer game earlier and people were all over the place yelling and going crazy.

If you watch it you'll see that half way through he stops and tells people he's performing for money. And when no one gives him any, he just stands there holding the ball.

When we passed him a few minutes later, he was performing again. Quite impressive hey?

Then a little bit further down the street, these two student dancers were performing. They were amazing. Especially the girl and it made me quite envious that I can't dance like that!

Video of the dancers:


After dinner we went straight back to the hotel to rest. So far the strangest thing I have been asked is if my eyes are real. I look Chilean with dark hair and olive-ish skin, but I guess my blue eyes give me away. And when I think about it I actually haven't noticed any people with blue eyes. We've also been asked if we're Mexican. That question is pretty legitimate though considering Reese speaks Mexican Spanish.

I have to admit that posting everyday takes quite the effort. I'm glad I do because I would forget so much about our trip!
Tomorrow will be an important post since it'll be Reese's birthday! :)