Antarctic Adventure Part IV

Hello from SCL. I have to wait 3 hours until I can check in. 8 hours until my flight to Ushuaia. I'm hanging out with Matt from Arizona at the Gatsby Buffet and Cafe where it's open all night and has free wifi and electricity. There is a Holiday Inn next to the airport (like literally a crosswalk away from the passenger pick-up and drop off zone) but they have no vacant rooms tonight. If any one is planning to stay up until 11:00 PM PST or better yet, 4:00 AM PST, message me and keep me awake.

Santiago was fun but I can't say that it ranks among my favorite cities in the world. I have to say that it has about the same revisitable rating as Singapore: been there, done everything, never need to go back again. Plus, any city with residents that greet a stranger by pulling their eyelids sideways and saying "ching ching chong" gets a big check minus.

I rode the Turistik tour bus again today. I visited Parque Arauco, the most famous shopping mall in Chile. There, I met a nice older Chilean woman while ordering lunch and we had a nice chat over some type of Chilean style rice pilaf. I also ordered a butterflied grilled chicken breast but my 2 experiences with chicken here have made me realize that they don't do chicken well here at all. I'm not sure how or how long they cook the chicken, but there was no texture to it at all, which made it feel disgusting to chew and swallow now that I've experienced it again. I'm sure it's normal to the locals because almost everyone in line with me ordered the same chicken.

After lunch, I went to the Funicular, where they have a giant statue of Mary on top of a hill that overlooks the city of Santiago. I took the cable car across the Metropolitan Park because I didn't have time to walk through it. Then I went to the The National Museum of Fine Arts where they had a Chilean comic illustration exhibit and some South American photography exhibits. The comic illustration styles have a heavy European influence (like Andy Capp, Asterix, etc.) but with a stereotypical South American twist in the figures and facial features of the characters.

I stumbled upon a military parade to commemorate something, and then I made my way to Plaza De Armas where I scored a free ticket to see the Santiago Ballet. I couldn't make it to the show, so I let the woman beside me have it. I walked towards the Mercado Central to take one last set of photos. I saw some Colo-Colo fans celebrating their football team's victory. As the sun started setting, some nice locals warned me that I should leave the area because it gets sketchy at night. I took refuge in Bar Nacional 2 where I had a cheese empanada and some very tasty freshly squeezed honey dew melon juice. Then I set out for the Centropuerto (airport shuttle) terminal. I saw the decorated military folks from the parade earlier on walking home, so I walked with them for safety.

When I arrived at the airport, I scoped out all my options for staying overnight. I also received the most excellent news: Marcelo from Quark Expeditions had already picked up my luggage from Ushuaia airport and it will be waiting for me in my cabin!

Now all I have to do is hope that my flight to Ushuaia goes without a hitch.