Polish Cities Glare

Old and new. From the ancient, medieval Krakow to a post-WW2 rebuilt, megapolis and a Polish capital city of Warsaw… Discover this Northern European gem!

Chile Uncovered

Basically, I try to discover as many new countries as possible. That is the reason I’m now covering magnificent Chile.

Santiago is a true wonder. A magical city. It is best enjoyed while sipping an afternoon espresso and watching the Andes mountain range lit up with bright sun rays…

Friday afternoon was gloomy, though. As were the monumental government buildings in the city centre. But I was soon at the Plaza de Armas and it made me a bit more cheerful. This square was full of people enjoying the free entertainment galore. Like an elderly musician doing a trick, spectacular in its simplicity; makeup artists painting little girls and turning them into cats and tigers; a comedian asking me where I was from, then made a joke. The funny thing is that everyone laughed at the pun, which I didn’t quite get, as it was in Spanish…

I also tried some popular street food: nearby, 500 pesos got me a small mote con huesillo. These are cooked wheat kernels in chilled peach nectar juice with tasty slices of dried peach. Someone who ordered right before me had just taken a “large”, which looked more like “a massive” to me. “This is good food, 100 percent natural,” a seller told me. “It’s good for hunger, good for thirst, good for you.”

After that vivid culinary starter, I took a subway ride to a famous food venue – La Fuente Alemana. This is the most legendary burger shop in a city obsessed with burgers. At a crowded U-shaped counter, customers were eating classic burgers. Like chacarero (beef and green bean) and lomito (pork). And the popularity of this place can be judged by just two things. First, by how fast the new orders were brought up from the kitchen. Two, by how often visitors were flooding in and out. Second, burgers and two beers did cost me 13,300 pesos. This sum looks less painful if you count it in dollars, though.

“With over 100 wineries in the country, Chile is now the 5th largest exporter of wine in the world”

So I left the burger shop and set out to meet Rodrigo Pinochet, a Chilean travel writer. I tried to keep up with him, just as I try to do with numerous native travelers from the countries that I go to. Anyways, in order to meet him, I arrived at a chic wine bar called Bocanáriz. The fancy place was located in the upscale Lastarria neighborhood, which I recommend you to see. He had promised me the best, chilled white wine in Chile…for under $10!  He was right. It delivered: I tasted three unusual varietals found in Chile (like mourvèdre!) for 4,200 pesos, and called it a night.

But overall, there is so much fun things to do in Santiago and so little time … That means I will have to write a separate series of posts about it.

Now I want to share some photos with my readers. Because I have no time yet to sit down and describe my brightest moments of this trip in a long-read. Moments, by the way, are plenty! You can expect a number of posts on Santiago and Chile over the next couple of months mixed up with the other posts.

And as I’m currently staying in Santiago for some time, I will surely explore the countryside too.

I would love to witness some lesser-known natural attractions. A good example is Frutillar, a beautiful lakeside area in southern Chile’s Los Lagos Region. The Lonquimay area, which is a stunning mountainous lake city in the Malleco Province of southern Chile’s Araucanía Region. As well as Coyhaique (a budget-wise Northern Patagonia city that’s a hub for travelers in that region).

As I will continue travelling through the country, I will be adding new posts here about my ventures.

Namely, the next trip I want to set out on is to Patagonia. This incredible plateau region of Chile is in the South.