Everyday Life in Santiago and the Most Touristy Thing to Do in Santiago

This is my third time visiting Garv and Lindsay in Santiago.  I distinctly remember the day they announced they were moving to Santiago because my parents’ reaction was drastically different than mine.  When Garv and Lindsay announced they were moving in December of 2013, my parents were devastated and horrified that they would be moving 5000 miles away to some God-forsaken country in South America.  While my parents were in their initial stages of shock and horror,  I was on Orbitz seconds after the announcement (not an exaggeration) looking at the price of flights and itineraries because I recognized an opportunity to travel. My excitement has manifested itself in me being their first visitor (I even beat their furniture there (the adventure of their furniture surpasses that of my luggage by far)) of many to more to come (see my sister’s blog) and being the first to visit them three times.

One of the reasons I was so excited that they were moving to Santiago is that I immediately realized that it would be an opportunity for me to visit an international city several times, become familiar with it, and come to a deeper understanding of its culture and rhythms of life.  Just four months before their announcement, I had spent two weeks sprinting through Europe and though the quick pace of that tour had allowed me to see many different cities and countries, it was so quick that I could barely get a feel for a city or country.  For example, I had a day and half in Paris and I had to manage my time well.  I spent three hours at the Louvre and I think that it would take me three days to get through it.  So now that they were moving, I would be able to spend quite a bit of time in one city and country since I would have "free" lodging.

For my first trip to Chile in 2014, I spent twelve days in Chile and last year I spent fourteen days in the country.  During the last two trips, Lindsay and I did a lot of site-seeing. In fact, yesterday morning we were trying to figure out things to do (at one time we had a plan, but the travel adventures changed those) and we went through TripAdvisor's Top Things to do in Santiago and we'd done them all except one...the #1 thing to do in Santiago: The Sky Costanera Center!

The Costanera Center is the tallest building in Latin America.  It was opened in 2015 and includes lots of office space (mostly still empty) and a huge mall (decidedly not empty--We went on a Saturday late afternoon to pick up some things quick at the grocery store and it was like a weekend at the mall in December).  On the 61st and 62nd floor of the Costanera Center there are 360 degree observation decks from which I was supposed to be able to see all of Santiago and the mountains.  On Monday afternoon, Lindsay and I visited it on our way from a lunch downtown.  From the top we did see most of the cities and mountains, but the smog in Santiago is famously horrible so the view is not as great as it potentially could be. It was still a pretty cool view though and on a clear day it would be worthy of a really high ranking.

Check out the haze of smog...

We need to work on our photography skills...

While we were at the top, Lindsay made two astute observations.  First she noticed that everyone was on their phone.  Second, she said this was the most touristy thing ever because every city has a tall building with an observation deck like the Empire State Building in New York, Sears Tower (or whatever it's called now) in Chicago, the Space Needle in Seattle, the Arch in St. Louis, etc.  

So though the Sky Costanera was the most touristy thing we could possibly do, most of my time in Santiago consisted of everyday activities.  We went to the mall and grocery store three times in five days, took a lot of naps (you'll learn why in my next post), watched the Olympics on Chilean TV because the NBC Sports app didn't work too well, borrowed clothes from Garv and Lindsay's friends, and had coffee and dinners (more on those, too) with friends.  

So though, my time in Santiago was a day short, I didn't have luggage, and only did one truly touristy thing (besides the vineyards--also more coming on those!), it was a very satisfying time because I had the time to enjoy the everyday things in life which is why I was so excited that Garv and Lindsay were moving to Santiago.  

Look at that view...

And of all my favorite everyday things in Santiago...it's the view from Garv and Lindsay's deck, as the sun sets over the mountains, reflects off the buildings, and the lights of the skyscrapers pop on at dusk.