More vaca photos

I wasn't going to post twice today but Hubby made me a martini, then started watching a documentary on Chinese war tactics...BORING!

This is a beautiful park in Santiago called Santa Lucia. It is as lovely as this photo suggests. We went there several times - you can hike up some old stone stairs to the top of the mountain and look over Santiago. We did that later in the trip - this day we were on the 1/2 day city tour. Our guide was great - I think his name was Roberto and I'm sad to say I did not take his photos - he turned us on to some great bars in Belle Vista neighborhood and some pretty decent local micro brew. But first they had a "special surprise" for us. We soon learned that "special sup rises usually meant something either very hokey or a stop at a store that we could buy special souvenirs. This tour had both. First - the re-enactment of the taking of Santiago - artfully (sort of ) done by this troupe of actors. It was pretty dramatic and we went with the flow by watching, although all the locals that were there were snickering at us tourists.

This park is where the locals go to make out - and there are couples EVERYWHERE kissing away. We figured it was because they wouldn't be allowed to behave that way at their parent's house - but it was Ok in public. I managed to sneak a quick kiss with Hubby - quite begrudgingly I might add. But I didn't marry him for his romance.. The guy in the orange shirt was the story teller - he used his cell phone as a microphone which was curious. We also saw several groups of college kids practicing some sword play stuff here - it was a little strange, Darwin also visited this hill so it's pretty significant.

This fountain is sort of in the middle of the park and is very beautiful. We fell in love with all the architecture.

This is the view of Santiago from another park - their main park in the city, Parque Metropolitano. It was pretty smoggy - normal for the city as it is surrounded by mountains but we thought it was beautiful. In the summer it is "unbearable" whatever that means to them, we did not find it to be a problem but it was late fall for Santiago - temps in the 70's during the day; 50's at night - perfect!

More tomorrow!