Cafe culture alive and well

We can access wi-fi at our Santiago hotel, so thought while we could, we would add some pictures of our two days in Santiago. Had a blast of a day today. We decided to get our long distance bus tickets reserved for La Serena for when we return from Easter Island as it is in the middle of a holiday (Chilean Independence Day?) so we travelled the metro and got our tickets reserved, Andy's Spanish coming back fairly well, although the money is all in thousands of pesos, so the numbers are a bit confusing.

We spotted a poster for an Easter Island exhibit on the metro!! So decided to head there, and although it was all in Spanish, we got the gist (sort of...). Next a self-guided walking tour that included Palacio de la Moneda (where Allende was overthrown and died in the 1973 coup) -

the Plaza de Armas (the original square of the city) -

where we stopped for empanadas in a very busy local joint (quite fun once we figured out how to pay and order) -

and a short hike through the Cerro Santa Lucia park to the top of the hill, with great views of the city and the surrounding Andes -

We got organized for the Easter Island flight tomorrow, which are often overbooked, and got our window seats reserved (YES!!). Oh, and of course, several opportunities for coffee shops and relaxing into the cafe culture again! It comes so easily to us!!!

Off to Bella Vista tonight for some more nice nibbling and people watching.

Having a GREAT time. Santiago is a very mellow, easy going but cosmopolitan city (with lots of coffee shops, restaurants and ice cream palors), so it's all good!