Santiago didn’t really do it for us, but such was our itinerary that we ended up spending NYE (December 2017) in one of the most boring cities that we visited in South America. The city virtually shut down for NYE with most of its inhabitants escaping to the beach. We also contemplated joining the hordes at Valparaiso but accommodation was ridiculously priced, so we stayed in Santiago and wondered its empty streets trying to find a decent bar or restaurant that was open but no such luck. So on NYE we ended up at our hostel bar (Hostal Providencia – big, busy hostel) and then a street party with a bunch of strangers. Of course we drank way too much, pretended to have fun and ended up with pretty decent hangovers (but nowhere to go for a decent hangover brunch).
Yes poor us! I appreciate that we sound like spoilt brats and maybe we missed a trick but we just couldn’t find anything to love about Santiago. There wasn’t much to see or do and 30+ degree days in a big city like Santiago were just too hot. When things did open up we were not particularly impressed with the food which was expensive but the quality didn’t live up to the price and the pisco sours were nowhere near as good as those in Peru.
We did have a fun/interesting night at a local dive bar La Piojera where we went to try the local drink “terremoto” (meaning earthquake). A very unusual drink which I was told about by a Chilean whom we met on a tour in San Pedro de Atacama. The el terremoto is made of local sugary fermented wine, pineapple ice cream and grenadine or similar on top. Very interesting taste and surprisingly strong. It was not a favourite…but when in Chile…as soon as we entered the bar we were adopted by a few locals who invited us to sit with them. They didn’t speak much English, we didn’t speak much Spanish…it was all a bit awkward but the terremotos helped us get a bit braver with our Spanish and also feel a bit more comfortable at the bar which really felt quite dodgy. The area around it didn’t feel particularly safe either, so although it was quite fun I (Jen) was happy to leave after a few drinks.
Sorry Santiago…we won’t be raving about you or coming back!
