In December 2012, we embarked on the Patagonia trip, which we had been longing for more than a year. The itinerary is marked in the map below:
Our first stop was Santiago, where we stayed two nights with our friend, Hagit. Then, we flew to Punta Arenas, where we spent a night before taking the bus to Torres Del Panie National Park. We spent 5 nights at TDP NP and completed the hike of W circuit. Then, we took the bus to the Glacier National Park of Argentina. We visited Perito Moreno glacier and walked/Hiked El Chalten (Fitz Roy) trials；later, we went to the southernmost city of the world, Ushuaia, and ran on a few beautiful trails in Tierra del Fuego National Park. Our last stop was Buenos Aires, from where we flew back home and finished our wonderful three weeks vacation。
Santiago is a typical latin American city but is VERY BIG. When we arrived, Hagit was waiting for us at the airport. It is so nice to have a friend in an unfamiliar city / country. Hagit gave us big huggs which washed away our tiredness from the 13 hours overnight travels. Similar to the Bay Area of Northern California, Santiago has typical mediterranean climate: dry Summers and mild to cool and wet winters. December is the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere, so, same as what we have in the Summer here in the bay area, all the mountains were barren and brown. When we talked about the earthquake in California, Hagit was laughing and told us that,in Chile, everything below seven is called turbulence. A powerful 8.8 earthquake was happened in Santiago about two years ago, at the time, although half of the water from the swimming pool was shaken out, many buildings past the test and sustained.
Hagit's house is in the North suburban of Santiago. The real estate market is growing; on our way to her house, we saw many neighborhoods were under construction. The suburban in Chile is very similar to the suburban in the U.S. There are many chain stores; trees were planted along the paved sidewalks. At night, when we came back to Hagit's house, we saw some women were running alone. Seems to us, Santiago is a very safe city.
The economy of Chile is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, and is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations,leading Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption.
The mining sector in Chile is one of the pillars of Chilean economy. The Chilean government strongly supports foreign investment in the sector and has modified its mining industry laws and regulations to create a favorable investing environment for foreigners. Thanks to a large amount of copper resources, progressive legislation and a healthy investment environment, Chile has become the copper mining capital of the world, producing over 1/3 of the global copper output. In order to maintain a steady economy growth, the Chilean government encourages and financially supports startups; if any person comes up with good entrepreneur ideas, the government will give the person $40,000 as a seed funding.
Hagit's son, Roy, told us that the custom at Patagonia is different from Santiago. Patagonian are known as "English man" in Chile. Patagonian are not English decedents; the reason they got the name is because they are introvert and reserved but not as open and warm as people from other parts of the Latin America. In Santiago, when friends meet, they hug and kiss each other on the right cheeks. It is the local custom to make the kiss sound being heard.
Hagit also invited two energetic and beautiful local ladies being our tour guides for Santiago city tour. Both girls have done triathlons. One girl was signed up to beautiful Pucon Triathlon of 2013. We envy her 。
The first stop of our city tour was Cerro San Christopher, where we can overview the city. It was unusual to have a rainy day in the summer here in Santiago.
Statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristóbal.
It was Christmas time and the Christmas atmosphere is everywhere. The kitty was singing Feliz Navidad to us!:
BellaVista at the foothill of Cerro San Cristóbal.：
Local lapis lazuli Artwork: there are many local art stores here in this plaza. The most famous one is Lapis Lazuli：
Street views：colorful graffiti...
Fruit vendor：
Street Performer：
Girls Scouts (the policemen / policewomen patrol for us)：
Lastarria near the modern art museum：
Many musicians live in this building：
Chinese dragon made from recycled materials outside of the modern art museum：
end of the world? an artwork made from the news paper：
Tired and hungry, so we came to the famous Mercado Central 。 It is the most famous fish market in the country：
Congrio: a local fish of Chile：very tasty!
We had Congrio in Peru two years ago, so we tried other seafood this time. Augusto is the largest restaurant in this market and it is also the most famous seafood restaurant in Santiago. Many prestigious people have been here：
Fresh King Crab shipped from Patagonia， delicious：
Seafood combo：
Sea Urchin：
Add onion and lemon，one of the best seafood had ever had in my life！
We love Chilean bread. Overall, Chilean dishes are very light. Not many seasoning added to the dish. However, because the materials are soo fresh, everything tasted great 。
Chilean traditional drink: Mote Con Huesillo
It is made from dry peach and wheat. It is one of the best local drink for the Summer.
Thanks to our friend Hagit for her hospitality. It was a short two days but we had so much fun. We were not only been to Santiago but also experienced the best part of this beautiful city. Our next stop: Punta Arenas。
| 
