Parque Arauco

My Gate 1 tour ended today, but I wouldn’t be taken to the airport to fly home until 5 p.m., giving me a day of free time. I didn’t feel too well from my cold, but since we would lose our hotel rooms, I went for a trip around Santiago on the hop–on hop–off bus. I picked it up at the Parque Arauco, a big mall not too far from our hotel.

Santiago

The bus made 12 stops in a 2–hour loop. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t get off the bus, just stayed on for the full loop. If I had felt better, I would have gotten off to see the Lo Contador Sculpture Park, taken the funicular up Cristobal Hill,  visited the Pablo Neruda Museum, and went inside the Metropolitan Cathedral. The hop–on hop–off bus is an easy way to get around Santiago and to see its sights. However, for some of the attractions near the bus stops, you really need a good street map of Santiago. For example, at the stop for the Pablo Neruda Museum, there were no signs directing you to it. Photo: Passing the high–rise area of Santiago.

Metropolitan Cathedral

The bus stopped near the Metropolitan Cathedral. A visit inside the cathedral would have been interesting.

Mercado Central

The bus also stopped at the Mercado Central, where I had already been to two times.

Palacio de La Moneda

Another stop near the Palacio de La Moneda, the seat of the President of Chile.

Even if you don’t get off the bus, you get good views of Santiago sites.

Parque Arauco/Flying Home

After taking the full 2–hour loop, I had a hamburger for lunch at the Parque Arauco at Mr. Jack. Other restaurants at the mall included Tony Roma’s and PF Chang.

I thought that the mall would have a drugstore. My waiter at Mr. Jack did not speak any English, so I assumed that the two young woman hostesses wouldn’t either. So I asked them in my muy poco Spanish, “Donde esta farmacia aqui?” I should have added a “la” in front of farmacia. But neither of the hostesses understood me, so I said “drugstore.” That they understood.

I think the Spanish accent is very different here in Chile and also in Argentina than in other Spanish–speaking countries. The Spanish spoken in those two countries didn’t sound like the Spanish we hear in Los Angeles and perhaps my Spanish accent, probably more of a Mexican Spanish one, was not being understood or perhaps I had too much of my old New York accent in it as well. Anyway, I was very disappointed that I was not understood. But I could read some of the written Spanish in both countries and that was helpful.

I have put my photos of my hop–on hop–off bus ride on a slide show. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/santiago–hop–on–hop–off–bus/

(Slide Shows, South America, Chile, “Hop–on Hop–off Bus”).

Our hotel offered some tours. One was to the top of the Andes to the ski resorts. Some of my tour mates took this one and very much enjoyed it.

I had a bit of trouble going through immigration at the Santiago airport as I couldn’t find my exit permit. You don’t need a visa or any fee to enter Chile but you do need your an exit permit to leave, which is given to you when you arrive. My problem was solved by being directed to the police booth to get a new one. The immigration lines were long and it had taken me a good deal of time to get to the head of the line, but after getting a new exit permit, I was taken to a very short line to go through immigration.

I flew on United to Houston, where I went through customs and immigration, both very quick as I had applied for the Global Entry program before I had left the U.S. Global Entry will get you through U.S. customs at airports very quickly. You apply online, and if you are accepted into the program, you then go to a major airport to have an interview with a customs agent. I passed. You also get a TSA precheck number with your Global Entry. The fee is $100, good for 5 years, so you will want this only if you fly international frequently. Then on to Los Angeles, also on United.

The volcano in Chile erupted about 8 hours after I left Chile. I imagine that would have interfered with flying out of Chile if I had left later. Luck was with me. All in all, a good first trip to South America.