2geonomads

Wednesday 25th February

Valparaiso to Santiago.

A lovely breakfast served up by Alexandra and we meet up with the owner who gives us some background on the guesthouse and it’s history.

We opt not to go on a guided walking tour of the town, preferring instead to do our own thing and cover the areas to the west of Av Templeman , visiting Plaza Anibal Pinto, Plaza Victoria and the Catedral de Valparaiso.

One of many parks catering to families

Reloj Turri

The Museo Palacio BaburizzaPort

Down at the port area

Sign regarding Tsunami instructions – note wiring also!

Finally arrive back at the bus terminal after passing through some less than impressive precincts and take the hour – long trip back to Santiago.

After the initial misgivings about doing the detour to Valparaiso we have found it to be a charming, somewhat quirky town  with loads of character and well worth the detour.

Back in Santiago we check back into Hotel Ismael and find that we have been given a lovely room overlooking the park at a very reasonable rate. It turns out that the girl at the reception had made an error on our taxi booking when we first arrived in Santiago, hence the special treatment for our return  stay. We also make an advance booking at the same reduced price for two nights on our return to Santiago at the end of our trip.

Also on the recommendation of the hotel we walk to the Lastarria area to Nolita restaurant. Although situated in a delightful spot where cafés, pubs and fine dining establishments abound Nolita is a major let-down. Whilst the food is quite acceptable the service is terrible with the waiter seemingly completely apathetic to our needs.

In short right area but wrong establishment !

Gail returns to the hotel while I do one last walk down to Plaza de Armas- a big mistake as at night this becomes one of the least salubrious areas of Santiago and I suspect one of the more dangerous.

Pleased to be back at the hotel and pack the bags for the long journey south to Punta Arenas the next morning.

Lowlight of the day. Gail picks up from checking online records that there are 4 ‘rogue’ withdrawals against my Visa Transaction  Card. A quick check by yours truly shows that my card is missing and it seems to have gone on 23rd Feb, the day of our arrival in Santiago.

Phone calls are made to cancel the card and this is achieved without any dramas. However, efforts to have the card replaced are thwarted when the girl to whom I am speaking in Australia simply  cannot get her head around the fact that I am not able to pop around the corner to the bank to pick up a replacement and I am not sitting at my desk with all of the necessary information on our various credit cards readily available.

Before I finally get to sleep I am able to discuss the lost card issue with a member of the bank who is not as geographically – challenged and can now continue on this memorable journey with my some peace of mind.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret