Santiago - city in a day — Someday Sherpa

Mar 25

Mar 25 Santiago - city in a day

Hitting Santiago, Chile's capital city, smack bang in the middle of the country, we were in two minds about how to approach it. Do we spend time exploring or nip in and out for two days to keep the adventure moving? We opted for the latter - having spent so long in the wilds of Patagonia cities weren't high on our agenda.

With that in mind here's how we attacked the metropolis, it's the only logical way in our opinion!

Go for a morning run to explore at pace (and feel better about the following events)
Explore Santiago’s hipster barrio for good coffee (finally) served by gents with exceptional beards and twisted mo's. Part coffee shop, part barbers.
Walk 10mins to the Mercado Central. Get hustled by the relentless fish mongers selling anything fishy you might possibly imagine before stopping for a ceviche and chowder lunch with free pisco sours. Choose a restaurant on the edge - the central options are tourist-traps
Walk 10mins back to the hipster zone to grab another coffee before ducking into the Visual Arts Museum for a spot of culture
Next stop is conveniently just across the street - Pisco Sour tasting time at CHIPE LIBRE. It's proclaimed itself the independent Republic of Pisco (Chile and Peru have a long rivalry on the origin of pisco). Choose from a 'yuge' menu worth of pisco cocktails or do a tasting of the undiluted hard liquor varieties
Return to the hostel (or hotel for the rest of you lot reading this) and chill for a couple of hours with wine from a previously visited winery in the Colchugua Valley and videos of how Trumps ‘healthcare’ bill failed :)
Head out again to grab a rooftop dinner at Casa Lastarria. I recommend trying their sticky slow-cooked pork ribs (nom nom nom) accompanied by a rather large glass of Chilean red
Sidle across the street to finish off the sightseeing tour with a craft beer before making a beeline for bed, safe in the knowledge that city life ain’t half bad when done right

I'm sure there's more to Santiago than we experienced but frankly we loved our flying visit, and we had to leave as the next wine region was calling. Bottoms up!