Weronika On Aventura

Today I finished my two week Spanish course. I felt like I was finishing primary school and off to summer vacations! Then I went to a horse riding trip with a BBQ overlooking the valley with Santiago and the neighbouring mountains. The views were great and the horses were nice, however the organization of the trip was a bit lacking. Firstly, no riding helmets were supplied, but I guess let's do it Gaucho style, wearing a straw hat... When we arrived at the starting point, the guides saddled everyone up without a word of welcome or basic horse riding instructions and yiiihaaa! we were off. It's not like we were galloping through the Patagonian pampas but still... I saw many people being really stressed and have a small panic attack every time their horse sped up to a trot. I was thanking my fortune that while in the US I took a few lessons and I knew how to start/stop/steer/slow down my horse (or at least attempt to, they don't always listen if they think you're not hip...

Every Sunday between 9am and 2pm a number of large streets in Santiago (and other cities in Chile) close to car traffic and open to people on foot and on non-motorized vehicles. What seems like hundreds of runners, bikers and skaters descent upon the route. At my Airbnb there's a bike that I can use for free so today I decided to join them! How cool would it be if they did a similar thing in central London? I'm imagining myself cycling around Trafalgar Square with no car in sight ... Today the cycling route led me to the giant park located on San Cristóbal hill. It's a super cool park with many amenities: a funicular and a lift going to the top (where you can see 360 degree views of Santiago), two outdoor swimming pools, Japanese garden, outdoor amphitheatre, several viewpoints, walking and cycling routes... Today I ended up at the Japanese garden which has a really nice view: It's a real shame that the air pollution obstructs views of the mounta...

I've moved!!! Living at the filthy place with the old lady actually worked out well as I had a compañera for the two school parties last week (not the old lady, another girl staying there ;), but I'm definitely glad to now be in a new place. I've also meet a new friend - say hello to Buddha: Buddha is a calm and sociable puppy and he instantly decided we'd be friends. Whenever the owners are not at home (which is most of the time, so much for making them my guinea pigs for practicing subjuntivo!), he hangs out with me. The only problem is that he keeps opening the door to my room when I'd prefer it to be closed. I travel with a little door stopper but it doesn't help, Buddha is one chunky piece of meat and manages to force his way in lol. Also sometimes when I'm leaving and want him to get out of my room so that I can close the door he hides under the bed: Of course I can't bring myself to be annoyed by him, way too cute! As a side note yester...

The Santiago cemetery was the final point of my most recent guided tour in the city. Sounds like a weird place to go to as a tourist but it was actually super interesting. Firstly, the guide assured us that it was okay to be having a tour there and that snapping pictures was not creepy. Apparently cemeteries in Chile are much more relaxed places than in eg. European countries. This was confirmed by the fact that we were passed by several bikers blasting Latin music out of their portable speakers. I imagined how playing some salsa tunes at a Polish cemetery would work out... It wouldn't fly I'm pretty sure! In Chile many people come to the cemetery to spend time with their departed relatives, as if they were alive. Apparently there's a grave completely covered in beer bottles that belongs to a man who used to enjoy having a drink with his wife. Now when she comes to visit she brings two bottles, drinks one and leaves the other one on the grave for her husband to enjoy. ...

Yesterday was my third day of free guided tours around Santiago (they're obviously not really free as you leave a tip, but really good deal anyway). This one was my favorite one. It lead us through the more chaotic and less touristy parts of town, four food markets and... the Santiago cemetery. The visit to the cemetery was actually really interesting but that's a topic for a separate post... Mercado Central dates back to 1872 and is the most famous and the most touristy of the Santiago markets we visited. It boasts a pretty cast iron roof, which interestingly was produced in Glasgow and shipped over here. Apparently the locals did not have the technology capable of producing a similar construction, unlike the good old Scotland. Mercado Central focuses on seafood and so it does not have that much interest to me unfortunately (although veeeeery slowly I'm widening my seafood horizons - I've very recently started liking shrimp! Great success!). We left mercado central...

I remembered about this meme today because I thought to myself that Santiago did not follow this pattern. That "street art" area in hipster part of town? Well Santiago has not one but two of them! Yesterday I visited the first of them, the nearby Bellavista neighborhood. Graffiti, cool bars, lots of restaurants - check, check, check. My Spanish school is located in this area so I shall be sufficiently hipstered out by the end of my course. Today I visited the second graffiti den, barrio Yungay. Built in the nineteenth century, this is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Santiago, and the first urban planning project of the city of Santiago. Originally an area for wealthy people, more recently inhabited by a mix of socioeconomic backgrounds including many immigrants. Over the years it's been heavily impacted by earthquakes, and many of the buildings here are still damaged from the latest big quake in 2010.  Yungay is definitely different than Bellavista in th...

Almost like the HOLLYWOOD sign ;) At 9am I touched down in Santiago de Chile on the first day of my green card awaiting exile. After 16 hours in transit I wasn't feeling great but the sun was shining and I was feeling good about it. And the risk of turbulence was finally gone after 9 hours with the seatbelt sign on - have I mentioned I hate flying? I wish I could take a bullet train everywhere. On exiting the airport my bag was tagged down by a sniffer dog, and I was very excited about how adorable he was about being such a good doggo and jumping over my luggage to tell his partner my backpack still smelled of mandarins that I gulped down two minutes before passing exit security (you're not permitted to bring in any foreign meats, fruitse or vegetables into Chile). Following an easy transfer I arrived at my Spanish school homestay flat, where I was greeted by a sweet older lady. Unfortunately I was less excited about the state of her flat, let's just say we have di...