Santiago, Chile - Week 4

Hello family and friends,

This week started off with Brett deserting Atlas and I while he flew to another continent. No, not really, but yes. Brett did fly back to the states in order to drop Bruce off with my sister, Ruth (Thanks again!). However, he did go there and back all within 36 hours so that he could be with Atlas and I for Christmas.

Bruce having cuddle time with his Aunt Ruth.

Our time in Chile is coming to a close and it is with mixed emotions that we head to our next country. There are some really great things about Chile and some not so really great things about Chile. Overall we felt like Chile was really close in a lot of areas but not quite there. Brett described Santiago as a DC of sorts.

Looking at the view of the mountains from the rooftop of our hotel.

Food: C+

There are a few category of foods that we must have: pizza, chinese and burgers. We were able to find really good pizza. However, there was no good chinese. They do a more Cantonese (bland) style of chinese (the fried rice is still white?!) and we like New York style. While New York style chinese is americanized with thicker sauces and fried dishes. Also, Chileans love to cake guacamole and mayonnaise on everything. Now I love me some mayonnaise, but even I was scraping it off of the burgers, sandwiches and hot dogs. Also they had a lot of the same type of food even at different cuisine style restaurants. We could not get away from german food even when we tried. The german influence on the cuisine results in a milder and less rich food profile.

Service: D-

Similar to Medellin, but worse. Similar in the sense that if you want service you have to call for it. I am definitely getting more with getting servers attention and saying what I want. Our general experience was you walk into a restaurant and if I told them there was three of us they looked at me like why are you telling me this, just find a table. We did find good service at this one cafe right by our hotel. One of the servers just talked to us and made us feel welcomed. He told us about his family, but he was Venezuelan. Needless to say we ate at that cafe at least twice a week. Now once you leave the city of Santiago, service is better. Like when we were in Maipo everyone there was very nice and accomodating.

In Home Convenience: D

This is a category where Chile really suffers. Houses aren't sealed, AC is sparse, plumbing is dated, facecloths aren't a thing and modern style housing is limited. Everything felt really compressed and small. They really struggled with maintenance of all things. Let's just say that Santiago isn't a place for people who like stuff.

Neighborhood Walkability: A

This is where Santiago really excelled. The sidewalks were well care for and super wide. The bike lanes were plentiful and separated from the cars in a way that made me feel safe. Everything was just right there. We didn't even need to really use public transportation, because everything was within 10-15 minutes walking. When we did use the metro it was very easy to use, better in Viña but still great in Santiago. Our only criticism is that the streets could be a little more polished with more trees and greenery. All the gather spots, called parques and there were lots, were paved in cement or tile with small planters for trees or a few shrubs. As for the cleanliness of the streets, it was decent. Didn't see any rats, but there was some trash and could use a rinse since it is fairly dry there.

Weather: B+

We were there in the summer with highs reaching 90 degrees fahrenheit. As I mentioned before AC does exist, but the buildings aren't really designed for it. Also businesses will run AC with the doors wide open, so not very effective. We learned to just stay inside during the midday. However, because humidity is low there are no mosquitoes, but the UV is intense because of the latitude/altitude. Nonetheless, every morning starts off cool, about 60 fahrenheit, and once the sun goes down the weather returns to something cool and comfortable.

Pollution: C+

There is definitely some pollution. Usually the mountain breeze keeps the pollution out of the valley, but if there was no wind the pollution would settle. We were actually in the city when they had one of the worst days for air quality, where they ranked in the top 10 worst in the world. Also, Brett struggle with allergies for the first time since coming to Latin America. Another thing is I think Chile missed the memo on smoking is bad for your health. I never lived it but I imagine it was like stepping into the 60s and 70s in the US. People are biking and smoking, smoking after they eat, smoking before they eat, smoking in the public parks that have huge no smoking signs, smoking in front of entrances, smoking with their children. You'd think they all just finished having sex, a drink, or both with how much smoking was going on. It was next to impossible to avoid and frustrating when you would rather sit outside on a beautiful day but have to choose indoors to avoid the smokers.

Publear: C+

Um, not really a thing. City people go to Viña to cool off and go to the beach. However, we were not impressed with the beaches, but we are spoiled as we lived at one of the best beaches in the world for 7 years. Also, there are long stretches of the beach in Viña where there are signs that tell you not to swim. The Andes mountains were great, but if I wanted to see the Andes again, I would choose Peru over Chile. We didn't get to make it to Patagonia as it was so far away and very expensive and inaccessible. We even heard 5 people passed away in the mountains while we in Chile. It feels like Chile doesn't do much to make it's site accessible to those of all abilities and economic classes. You either are very well off and ski or go to Patagonia to hike or you stay within a couple of hours of Santiago. In general "publear" is not a thing like it is in Medellin. Chile is long and narrow, so it takes a larger investment in time and money to get out of the city and get to the towns. There aren't many options for cute towns to stay in and getting there requires extended weekend trips or longer as compared to day trips.

People: C

People are more metropolitan. They are doing their thing and you are doing your thing. Nobody is rude, but they also don't acknowledge your existence. We never really discovered the English speaking expat community like we did in Mexico or Medellin. Supposedly they are in the suburbs, which we are not interested in at all.

Safety: A

No problems. I wore my purse on the front as I do in every city. We had a lot more people warning us about the dangers of Santiago. However, the fear mongering is worse in Santiago. The car rental place told us that car windows being broken was a very common thing. I also once left Atlas stroller on the sidewalk by a little kiosk electronic store, because the space was small and there was one step to get into the store. The store attendant told me multiple times to bring the stroller inside because someone would steal it, with our son in it... However, at the end of our trip when Brett was giving away the stroller he had the hardest time getting someone to take it. The perception of danger is higher than the reality if danger. However, it was an election year and we were told by one of our Uber drivers that the fear of crime goes up in an election year do to campaign ads trying to get people to vote for the hard on crime candidate. Sounds familiar...

Driving: A-

Roads are well maintained which allowed for fast speed on the highway. However, these speeds were just suggestions because no one followed them. Brett figured out as long as he wasn't going twice the speed limit he wasn't going too fast. No rights on red makes the roads safer especially for pedestrians. Signage was clearly labeled. The bus did ride in a dedicated right lane which make it a little weird that you had to go in the bus lane to make rights. There was only heavy traffic during peak rush hour times.

Infrastructure: B-

Water is safe to drink, but tasted terrible. Brett put a filter on the sink in our hotel and I still bought bottled water. Told him I was not poor enough to make myself drink water that tastes bad. Power grid wasn't very stable. Twice the power went out on the entire block. Internet and wifi were unstable. We could get spotty connection in two of the rooms of our 3 room hotel. Positives are that small places like Vina had a metro. The metro in Santiago was reliable, extensive and very usable. Buses were plentiful and had easily understable routes. DIdn't use taxis but Ubers were easy to get anywhere. A little more costly than other latin countries, but not even close to North American prices. Biking was easy even with manual bikes. There are multiple direct flights to the US.

Next stop: Montevideo, Uruguay for new years.