Hopped off the Plane at SCL with my Dreams and a Cardigan
Watch out Santiago, the Sullivans have arrived! After landing we made our way through customs and found our bags on the carousel—you know the usual. What was unusual though, was how many drug sniffing dogs they had. There were about three of them in my line of sight. The ladies in charge of the dogs would let them off the leash completely and let them wander around, or they would walk on the silver part above the moving baggage carousel. Even though it sounds intense, the dogs did not seem that smart. They kept looking at the people instead of sniffing the bags... maybe they shouldn’t use a huggable golden retriever that looks like a house pet to do the job.
From the airport, we headed towards our hotel to drop off our luggage before going back out to explore. As soon as we pulled up, the hotel staff was very attentive. They had several men running out to the car to take our luggage. I later learned that they never used to work so hard, but ever since there has been a large increase in Brazilian and Argentinian immigrants, they work very hard because there is a lot of competition for jobs.
We headed to discover the streets of Las Condes, considered a county of Santiago. We walked to the Parque Arauco where our noses immediately led us to “Wicked Food Truck”. One of the workers could speak a tiny bit of English and tried her best to describe the sandwiches they had to us. Not gonna lie, they had some pretty weird combinations. Including one with peanut butter and cream cheese and some other ingredients we couldn’t quite understand. We ended up getting one with their homemade chili sauce and ham, along with some other mysterious items.
Once we ate, we took a stroll in the remainder of the park. Some things that caught my eye included the immense amount of stray dogs, the lack of homeless people, and the cleanliness. I also saw 2 poodles, but unfortunately they had owners... so I couldn’t sneak them in my bag to take home.
We made our way back to the hotel in order to catch our transfer to Concha Y Toro, a Chilean winery known for some of the best wine in the region. Once we arrived, we met up with the tour guide and walked the grounds of the winery. It was quite scenic, providing both views of the Andes Mountains and of the bright green grape vines. Also included in the tour, of course, was a wine tasting, where we tasted one white and two reds. Personally, I enjoy white wines, but I am not a wine connoisseur. Honestly, all wines kind of mesh together and I can’t tell the difference.
Soon after, we arrived back at the hotel and enjoyed a pisco sour, the national drink of Chile. It almost tastes like lemonade with a mixture of something else. I can’t quite put my finger on it.
xoxo,
Em