Around Santiago

Traveling to Santiago can be the best experience if you know what to do and where to go. The first thing you must do in Santiago is getting a source of transportation, because it`s a very big city and you can get lost easily. If like most travelers you don´t have the money to rent a car, i suggest that you get a BIP card, with which you`ll be able to transport in all city busses and subway. You`ll spend around 2000 Chilean pesos per day, which equals (aprox) to 4 american dollars.

For the stay you`ll find hotels and hostels for any pocket, however if you`re staying for a long time it`s a lot more cheaper to rent a house paying a monthly fee. Althought it`s little more complicated, your pocket will be thankful. Plus you can be sure that your sheets are clean!

There`s a lot of places to visit in Santiago. If you join that tourist`s tours you`ll probably visit a lot of historical buildings, which is okay for a day or two, but you`ll get quite bored...(and be careful, as there`s a lot of thiefes looking for some tourist fresh meat to grab!). I recommend to skip a little (not too far of course!) from the typical routes. For example, if  you`ve been in santiago for a couple of days, you`ll be probably familiar with the location of the Santa Lucía hill (it`s the classical!). If you walk a little further around that area you can find some almost-hidden and really interesting coffee shops and restaurants, and a beatiful literary neighborhood. There`s  also a small french restaurant  called "Les assassins" that you can`t miss!

If you are willing to risk your stomach a little, i recomend you to eat at least ounce on the Mercado Central. Is not the cheap cheap place it used to be, but the food is still great and isn`t that expensive either. Other place i recommend to acknowledge the chilean spirit is the Liguria bar & restaurant (the one near tobalaba metro station), specially if you go in the night. The food and the drinks are quite good, but the best of this place resides on it`s noisy-crowded ambient and all it`s chilean decorations. You can find a more sofisticated variant of this kind of place if you to "The Clinic" bar, where you`ll probably bump to some chilean celebrities, but isn`t as historical as Liguria. Von apepit!

Visiting Spain

I would love to go to Spain again! I went there when i was 12 years old and it was quite an experience, but i think that traveling now that im over the age limit it will be very different, since i`ll be able to do a LOT more things.

During my stay the thing i liked the most about Spain was that the people are very friendly, out-going and doesn`t make a big deal about nothing... I really hope that this thing in particular hasn`t changed in the past years, because i`ve heard that Chilean people where discriminated there since a lot of "international thiefs" has made our contry`s name very infamous around Europe. Nevertheless, that certainly wouldn`t hold me back if i had the chance to went there again.

Another thing that i really like about Spain is the diversity of it`s architecture, for example in Barcelona you can walk around a beatiful gothic neighborhood, then see a very modern building, then look at ancient cathedrals, then visit Gaudi`s houses, etc… You could walk along the whole city with your eyes looking up and never get bored! (of course, if you don`t get run over by a tourist bus first)… And finally an anecdotal tip: In barcelona is permitted by law to walk naked around the streets… That`s something that you MUST at least see (or do!).