Hola from Santiago!!
Coming off of the Buenos Aires City Game, my group was prepared and anxious to attack the Santiago City Game. At this point, we could call ourselves veterans at navigating a foreign city and completing a scavenger hunt. This time my group had spent a few days in the city already, so we had a decent grasp on our surroundings. With the clock ticking and a new city to explore, my team was ready to play!
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| The start of our journey at the first metro station |
This game was a lot different than the one played in Buenos Aires. Our team already knew the best possible way to attack this game and that's what we did. My team started the game in the lobby of our hotel mapping out the different places that we had to visit. We all came to the conclusion that it would be best for our team to go to the furthest destination and then slowly back track. Seeing that time was a huge factor in this game, we thought this would be the best bet. Our team set out to the metro and were heading to La Moneda Station. This was my first time on a subway. Coming from a more suburban area I never had an opportunity to ride one. Riding the metro was one of many cool experiences, I have been apart of on this trip. Angie Perrone had a similar feeling stating "
I loved exploring the city and navigating the metro was an added bonus. I felt like a local." I am glad that most of this game involved taking the metro, unlike in Buenos Aires were there was more taxi transportation. Although, both helped us dive into traditional cultures and lifestyles, I enjoyed the metro a lot more. In my eyes I think this created a nice balance between the two games.
One of our first stops that my team went to was the Museo de Arte Precolombino or the Fine Arts Museum. Finding this museum was one of my favorite parts. Coming off of the metro and into the city area provided an interesting cultural experience. We got to see a beautifully painted street that lead right to the museum. Personally, I was amazed at the beauty and design that this street brought to the area. It added to the culture and life of the Chilean people. We have been so use to looking up at the amazing views and beautiful Andes Mountains, that looking down at the street art was a nice change of pace here in Santiago.
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| View of the painted streets, crowded of course! |
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In the beginning of the week, my class had the opportunity to ride a traditional mode of transportation in parts of Chile. Funiculars are train cars that are used to bring people up steep hills or sides of mountains. They are an awesome experience. Thankfully, we got to ride them in Valparaiso because the Funiculars at San Cristobal Hill were closed due to power outages. The funiculars are a fun mode of transportation and are definitely something you must try when traveling in Chile. On the bright side, prior to finding out that we could not ride on the funiculars, one of my group members Kristi got to take an awesome picture with a lama. In addition, my group was able to take a quick break and try a cultural drink called Mote con Huesillo. This drink is made from wheat and peaches. It is traditional sold in the summertime and Chileans love it! All of the members in my group including myself did as well. It tasted just like a peach flavored iced tea. I would recommend trying it if you are exploring the streets of Chile.
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| Breathtaking views on top of Santa Lucia Hill |
It was most definitely, a hot day today in Santiago. Walking around the city we felt the sun beaming down on us. We all thought to ourselves...."it's snowing back home and we are leaving here soon." Nevertheless, my team enjoyed the weather and continued on to complete the scavenger hunt. Our task was to climb Santa Lucia Hill. I would describe this hill as a transformed castle. It was was a few building structures that had stairs on the outside all leading up to the top. On the top there was a perch where you could see the whole city. At points, the stairs got very steep and the baking heat from the sun did not make them any better. Thomas Pappas put it beautifully, "
Damm...is that another staircase?" Indeed it probably was. Once you got to the top, it was worth it. The 360 degree view of Santiago was mesmerizing. My group took the required selfie, but then we each took advantage of the unique view to get in our own personal photo-shoot. This was one of those once in a lifetime views that we all enjoyed.
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| Group shot on top of Santa Lucia Hill |
To make matters worse, my team was supposed to get ice cream from Emporio La Rosa, but they were also experiencing power outages as well. My team decided that we did not want to completely skip out on ice cream, so we stopped and grabbed some gelato. It was delicious and hit the spot. I got one scoop of mascarpone berry and it was amazing. This was our final stop and it was definitely one good one to end on!
The Santiago City Game was an absolutely amazing experience. My team ended up winning the entire game and was each awarded a small prize. This game gave all of us a unique opportunity to do some last minute exploring of Santiago before our departure tomorrow. All of us really enjoyed this game and our final hours in Santiago. Emma Laudano said "
It was really interesting to see the different parts of the city that we hadn't had a chance to explore yet." And that's what it was, a great final sendoff for this SIE program here in Latin America.
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| Group selfie in Plaza de la Constitucion |
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