• Undiscovered America
    • Canopy Builders
    • Aveda
    • SHINE Mural Festival
    • Drone
    • St. Pete Pier
    • A Day in St. Pete Clearwater
    • Grouper Week
    • Go Gulf Coasting
    • American Marketing Association
    • Brighter Days Ahead
    • Rise to Shine
    • Lifestyle
    • Portraits
    • Drone
    • Fashion
    • Motorsports
    • Light Painting
    • Food
    • Real Estate
    • Gulf to Bay Magazine
    • Gulp Coast: Craft Brewery Trail
    • ValPak
    • Logos
    • Illustrations
    • Design
    • Murals
    • AI Portraits
    • American SW
    • Argentina
    • Banff
    • BVI
    • Chile
    • Florida
    • Føroyar (Faroe Islands)
    • Great American Eclipse
    • Hawaii
    • Iceland
    • Morocco
    • Peru
  • Collab
Menu

Marcus Oania

  • Motion
    • Undiscovered America
    • Canopy Builders
    • Aveda
    • SHINE Mural Festival
    • Drone
    • St. Pete Pier
    • A Day in St. Pete Clearwater
    • Grouper Week
    • Go Gulf Coasting
    • American Marketing Association
    • Brighter Days Ahead
    • Rise to Shine
  • Photography
    • Lifestyle
    • Portraits
    • Drone
    • Fashion
    • Motorsports
    • Light Painting
    • Food
    • Real Estate
  • Print/Illustration
    • Gulf to Bay Magazine
    • Gulp Coast: Craft Brewery Trail
    • ValPak
    • Logos
    • Illustrations
    • Design
  • Art
    • Murals
    • AI Portraits
  • Travel
    • American SW
    • Argentina
    • Banff
    • BVI
    • Chile
    • Florida
    • Føroyar (Faroe Islands)
    • Great American Eclipse
    • Hawaii
    • Iceland
    • Morocco
    • Peru
  • Collab
×

Chile: Start of a New Adventure and Santiago First Impressions

marcus oania January 15, 2017

Cool, dry morning air fills my lungs as we step out of the noisy, chaotic airport terminal.  Men yelling taxi? Taxi sir? I was too excited to care, the start of a new adventure was well under way. Its high summer in the southern hemisphere, welcome to Santiago, capital of Chile.

I always remember the first full breath I take in new countries. People get easily caught by the sights of a new place, but the first breath brings so many emotions you don't realize. Me and half of the Council of Giants crew begin our way to the hostel which is in the colorful Bellavista neighborhood. Our poor Spanish skills got us to the location but to find out that Dominica Hostel doesn't exist. A nice couple who spoke broken English helped us talk to the locals to ask where the hostels were. We donned our backpacks and started walking down the shaded streets in search of a hostel - just a few blocks away apparently. No more than two blocks away, we found Gnomo Hostel, and luckily they had room for all of us. Dropped off our bags and started walking.

Bellavista is just across the river from the administrative side of Santiago. The walls are covered in colorful graffiti and well painted murals. The streets are fairly quiet, even at noon. We would soon learn that everything opens late here. We walked in the high summer sun in clear skies to the market area, in search of food and a beer - this is a vacation after all.

_DSC0233.jpg
_DSC0249.jpg
_DSC0253.jpg
_DSC0233.jpg _DSC0249.jpg _DSC0253.jpg

Gnomo hostel is 2 blocks away from Mt. Cristobal (Cerro San Cristobal), a small hill that offers short hiking trails and spectacular views of the city. There is a tram that takes you up, we decided to take the one way tram and hike back down during sunset. Sit in the last spot on the tram, you will have a nice vew going up, wish no one in the way. At the top you are instantly greeted with the sprawling urban expanse of Santiago. The air is amazingly clear and you can see all of the city and the towering Andes Mountain peaks flanking the east side.

_DSC0313.jpg
_DSC0300.jpg
_DSC0310.jpg
_DSC0345.jpg
_DSC0370.jpg
_DSC0313.jpg _DSC0300.jpg _DSC0310.jpg _DSC0345.jpg _DSC0370.jpg

The trail down took about a hour to do, winding its way down the hill. We had the sunset smiling at us the entire time, peaking through the clouds on the horizon. Golden hour seemed to last longer than usual, it was past 8:30pm and the sun was still dancing on the horizon. The long summer days was a nice surprise after leaving the short winter days of the northern hemisphere. 

_DSC0379.jpg
_DSC0431.jpg
_DSC0437.jpg
_DSC0379.jpg _DSC0431.jpg _DSC0437.jpg

The kid manning the hostel recommended a brewery for dinner, and what better way to experience new culture other than locally brewed beer? We walked a few blocks, which were much more alive than a few hours earlier. People were out, eating and drinking, loud music blaring from each bar, multiple servers showing their menu to us as we walked by - inviting us to sit down at their restaurant.

Beer samples at Krossbar.

Beer samples at Krossbar.

We made it to Krossbar and sat outside and chatted up a couple of locals at our table. Meeting new people who speak another language and not your own is always a challenge, a fun challenge. Our minimal Spanish was equaled with their English as we laughed and drank through dinner. Santiago seemed like a cool place. The architecture is wonderful, sunny, fairly clean, lots of art and color and friendly people. We finished our beers and called it a night, we had a 4am taxi to take to the airport the next day, Patagonia - here we come!

In Travel Tags Chile, Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal, Gnomo Hostel, Krossbar, Bellavista, travel

Search Posts

 

Featured Posts

Summary Block
This is example content. Double-click here and select a page to feature its content. Learn more
Featured
May 8, 2025
Cursus Amet
May 8, 2025
May 8, 2025
May 1, 2025
Pellentesque Risus Ridiculus
May 1, 2025
May 1, 2025
Apr 24, 2025
Porta
Apr 24, 2025
Apr 24, 2025
Apr 17, 2025
Etiam Ultricies
Apr 17, 2025
Apr 17, 2025
Apr 10, 2025
Vulputate Commodo Ligula
Apr 10, 2025
Apr 10, 2025
Apr 3, 2025
Elit Condimentum
Apr 3, 2025
Apr 3, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Aenean eu leo Quam
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 20, 2025
Cursus Amet
Mar 20, 2025
Mar 20, 2025
Mar 13, 2025
Pellentesque Risus Ridiculus
Mar 13, 2025
Mar 13, 2025
Mar 6, 2025
Porta
Mar 6, 2025
Mar 6, 2025

Powered by Squarespace