Santiago Metropolitan Region

Family trip, 2005, my father is originally from here so we visited relitves.

There was a serious political disturbance when I was there earlier this year. All outbound international flights were cancelled except mine. I’m so glad I was flying a Chilean airline. I could see the fires and riots and tanks on the television and hear miltary planes taking off outside the airport, but I didn’t understand enough Spanish to know whether we were in any danger at the airport or not. Anyway, we took off and had a pleasant flight back to Sao Paulo.

Hey everyone. I will be in Santiago for 2 days approximately. What would you do if you had this little time? What places would you go to hands down? I know it is winter and snow may be a problem, but I am trying to take a bus from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina…would you recommend this? Hope to hear from someone soon! Thanks!

I studied abroad here for a semester and it was incredible. I love the public transportation, the soccer, las micros (buses), the crazy form of Spanish that they speak, the people (que carinoso!), the clubs and salsotecas, the towering mountains in every direction, the parks, los cerros, the skiing, the country.

I grew and was stretched here. It’s not just Santiago… it’s asking a country to let you live and grow there. It’s gaining your world view and realizing we’re not alone. The USA is not the end-all and the only hope of the world… or far from it. It’s engaging a culture.

From Santiago you can explore the vastness of Chile and S. America. I took trips to Patagonia, Easter Island, the Atacama Desert, Vina del Mar & Valparaiso, Pichilemu (surfing capital of S. America!), Mendoza Argentina, Buenos Aires, & Machu Picchu.

Nice city, very clean (even though the smog is bad). People are very friendly.