Funicular Fantastico! - Day 2

Another amazing day in Santiago! Kyle still entrusted me with planning the day, so I must be a good trip planner so far :) or he might just be lazy.. haha. So we started with more beautiful buildings. But first a ride on the clean and efficient Santiago subway - makes NYC look like a third world subway.

Our first stop was Palacio La Moneda which is the seat of the President of Chile and other cabinet ministers. Previously, the building served as the colonial mint from 1814-1929. I just enjoyed the fact that 2 soldiers on horses were "guarding the palace" who were happy to pose for pictures and answer questions about their horse. They stay on the horses in 5 hours shifts - probably to just appease the tourists. After this, we were on a quest for lunch as we were ravenous. We finally happened upon a cute little cafe by a church that was on our to do list to see. Fiona had a very tasty avocado and turkey sandwich, and we tried out first empanada de queso which was delicioso.

Onwards to the church - Iglesia de San Francisco. The first stone of the church was laid in 1586 which makes it Santiago's oldest surviving colonial building. It was incredible inside - Kyle got some amazing pictures (to come later :).

After our religious experience of the day, we headed over to the funicular after which this post is titled. Santiago has hills in the city on which there are beautiful lookouts. Parque Metropolitino is at the top of the tallest hill in Santiago. There is a funicular which heads up the hill for about $5USD (a deal instead of climbing all the way up) which stops half way for the Santiago Zoo. The zoo was great - Fiona bonded with the giraffes and Kyle bonded with the monkeys. The view from the top was incredible (picture below). You could see for miles from the top - Santiago spreads all the way to the mountains far in the background. We climbed to the cumbre (top of the hill) where their is a impressive statue dedicated to Virgin Mary.

After heading back down, we took a stroll along the river back to our hotel, stopping at a beautiful fountain on the way home. Every bench seemed to be occupied with couples kissing - seems to be a popular thing for the jovenes to do. The Chileans are very romantic.

Dinner was another adventure. Kyle found a highly recommended restaurant online, but sadly google maps led us astray by about 4 blocks. Frustrated and hungry, we stopped at a little cafe and had an appetizer. Here, we tried out first pisco sour. Fiona was not too impressed, but Kyle fell in love. He has a new favorite drink. It sort of tastes like limoncello with a bit of a bite. Our waiter said the pisco sour is better in Peru, so the jury is still out whether Fiona will like it or not. We finally found the restaurant after asking for directions at the cafe and realized that we walked right past it and looked at it earlier. Turisto estupido. To finish off the night, we had another delicious Camenere and pizza.

My Spanish is improving every day, thank goodness. Off to Mendoza tomorrow, early flight in the morning. Signing off for now. Adios amigos!