After many longs hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Santiago. It took us about an hour to get our Visas and go through immigration and customs, but we did not have any problems. Our taxi driver was waiting for us at the airport and drove us to our friend Young's house in downtown Santiago. The area here reminds me of Southern California. It is very dry, hot, and the city is surrounded by hills. We could not see the Andes because it is so smoggy.
When we arrived at Young's, we were greeted by his friend, Timo. Young had arranged for him to be our tour guide for the day, which was just awesome. We would not have had any idea of where to go. He took us all around the city (well, a small portion of it...the city is huge!). We walked downtown and went through several areas, such as the site of the capital and other governement buildings.
After lunch in a typical Chilean restaurant, we headed for a park. (I quickly found out the difference of agua sin gas and agua con gas...which is carbonated water. Not a big fan!) At the park, we took a tram straight up to the top of a large hill in the middle of the the city. At the top, we had an amazing view of the whole city of Santiago. We then took a cable car down the other side. It was a little hairy...our doors didn't completely close and we hit branches and trees on the way down, but it was fun. :)
We walked back to Young's apartment and relaxed until Young got home from work. We were very grateful for Timo's tour! We are also blessed to have a friend like Young; he is so incredibly gracious and hospitable.
Santiago's Capital Building
Interesting contrast between old and new
Our ride up the hill...it was very steep, but you can't really see that from this angle.
Nate and Lisa overlooking Santiago
Our ride down in the telefricos (cable cars). Look closely and you should see them.
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