Chilly in Chile!

Day 1: Chicago to Santiago

Flight to Houston

Our trip begins in Chicago, where we started our trip at a sprint. Literally. I waited for Dan outside of security while he parked the car, so we could go through security together. We figured having a flight to Houston at 5:30am meant no one would be going through security at around 4:00am. We were wrong. We were very wrong. About 1/3 of Chicago decided that they too wanted to go through the exact security checkpoint that we wanted. I got past security first, and Dan got held up and they had to check his bag. Well since boarding closed in 7 minutes (and we still didn't have tickets.. yay for standby travel!) I had to grab my bag and jog from terminal 2 to terminal 1 for our gate. I got there and the gate agent had our tickets in her hand. But wouldn't give them to me until Dan was there. I called him and told him to RUN. This flight to Houston had open seats and if we didn't make this flight we might not have made it out of Chicago that day. Well he did the "O'Hare Dash" and got there in just a few minutes! She gave us our tickets and told us to run down the jet bridge as they couldn't hold the plane any longer. Exhausted, out of breath, and nearly crying from happiness we were on our first flight to Houston and our first flight of our backpacking adventure!

Flight to Santiago

Once in Houston, we had 9 hours to relax before our flight to Santiago. This meant a nap for Dan and chips and guacamole to me. Finally 9 pm rolled around and we went to the gate. We were listed as 8 and 9 on standby and there were 6 first class seats and about 15 economy seats available. We were so excited to get on this flight we didn't care where we were sitting on the plane! Then the gate agent called our names and we got upgraded to first! Ah! The flight was 9 & 1/2 hours so we were thankful to be able to sleep. It was such an awesome feeling waking up and opening the window and seeing the Andes Mountains of Chile!

The Uber Adventure

We learned our first lesson right after getting off the airplane. When being frugal it's one thing to save $50 on a cab ride but it's another to walk all over outside the airport (as it is 50 degrees out! So cold!) looking for an uber when you don't have wifi and have never even heard of the type of car they are driving. All to save $7. Not worth it. You will eventually get frustrated because all the taxi drivers talk and when you walk by them for the 4th time they say "Uber!" And start to laugh because you are those kids. We were those kids. Finally, after another lap we gave up (yay!) and we went to the shared taxi stand and got a bus ticket for the exact same price. Pay the extra $7 and get a taxi from the taxi stand (not out front where they harass you!). Think of the 1.5 hours you will save by not walking back and forth in arrivals with your backpack on your back!

Hostel Forestal

Arrived at the Hostel and we were given the "room at the top of the stairs." It was totally worth the 4 flights of stairs to get up there (even after dragging my backpack all over the airport looking for the uber...). When the gal at the front desk found out we were on our honeymoon she said she had the perfect room for us & she was right! The view to the street was great and it was quiet! Plus, we had our own bathroom ensuite. We were sleeping in a fairytale!

Central Market

Our first adventure out and about was to go to Central Market. It's a huge old building filled with stalls of people selling fish and all kinds of food. It was built in 1872! The amount of fish was a little surprising and daunting but I didn't cry! We joked "como se dice 'vegetarian'?", meaning- How do you say 'vegetarian'- in Spanish, to each other as we walked by the rows of fish.

First Meal

We figured this would be the place for seafood so we headed to a restaurant in the middle of the market to eat. After much hand signals Dan ordered Prawn Soup and I ordered pancakes. Well then our waiter (who spoke no English) dropped off three plates without saying anything. We got a plate of bread biscuits, a large bowl of what appeared to be salsa, sliced lemons and what looked to be butter. It was a fun game of what goes with what. Then when our food arrived I realized instead of actual pancakes I got crepes! And Dan thought he was getting large shrimp when Prawns in Chile are mini popcorn shrimps! So it was a surprise for both of us.

Drinks & a Show!

Later that evening, we decided to head back out to explore the area around our hotel and grab a drink! We stayed in a "hipster" part of town as the locals were calling it. It had cobble stone streets and awesome old architecture details. We stumbled across a restaurant with a rooftop bar and decided to check it out since they had a Happy Hour special of 2/$5 margaritas! How can you pass that up?! So about halfway through our drinks, all of a sudden we hear this intense clacking of metal and we look and we see a Mariachi band in full regalia! They start playing and surround the table right next to us! It was such a surprise! The 5 songs they played were awesome and it was so fun to be in a city like Santiago and experience a real mariachi band! It was an awesome way to end our first day in Santiago!