Adios Santiago!

Travel Day 4&5 / Santiago Day 3, Sydney Day 1

Cerro Santa Lucía

We woke up early and decided to check out the birthplace of Santiago. It felt appropriate since the Spaniard's conquered the hill and establish Santiago on my birthday (only a few years back.. Dec. 13, 1540). The climb to the top consisted of original narrow stone steps with no railing. Back then they had small feet and no concern for safety. We made it to the top of Castillo Hildago which sits on the top and gave us amazing 360 degree views of the whole surrounding city. The architecture of the stone and the cobblestone pathways were so ornate. It was when we were at the top we realized how much the snow capped mountains completely dwarf the city.

Dessert for Breakfast On our way back to the hostel, we decided to stop and grab something to eat for breakfast or the walk. This cute coffee shop had what looked like raspberry muffins, which sounded delicious! I ordered the muffin and the girl gave me a strange look and pointed to the muffin. I said "sí!" And so she put it in a bag all while having a very strange look on her face. We didn't think anything of it until we got back to the hotel and I cut into the "muffin" to eat it and it was actually a red velvet cupcake with a frosting center! Whoops! It was a great start to the day! Carne? No carne? The hostel arranged a taxi to take us to the airport, and it was another crazy ride but we made it. While we waited in line to check in, they announced the flight was delayed 4 hours. They gave us meal vouchers for a buffet restaurant on the second floor which sounded great! Except my meal consisted of playing the "Carne? No carne?" game with a staff member of the restaurant. I ended up with pieces of fruit, some pita chips, potato salad, and tomatoes. Then I decided to brave the buffet line by myself and got all excited seeing fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, put what I thought was balsamic vinaigrette on top & ended up putting beef broth all over my plate.. whoops. Thankfully, Dan taste tested it before I took a huge bite! Being a vegetarian can be hazardous sometimes! Dunkin Donuts! When we got to our gate, it was conveniently across from a Dunkin Donuts! (the Gushue family is powered on oxygen and DD). Since we had a 14+ hour flight ahead of us I figured it would be appropriate to sample one of the flavors that were exclusive to Chile! I chose a some sort of powdered donut with a vanilla/fruit filling. it was the perfect treat 4 hours into our flight to sydney!

First flight on a 747

Our flight from Chile to Australia was on qantas Airways in a Boeing 747. Dan and i have never flown in a 747; which is crazy since 4 of his former flight students are 747 pilots. it was great to cross another airplane off our list! they are retiring the 747's in the USA (United's last 747 flight is this November) and we were excited to experience the "Queen of the Sky" and wake up in Australia. The flight was long but Dan got us a glass of champagne from the flight attendants. then later they dropped off a large bag with a bottle of champagne, two sets of qantas pj's and two first class toiletry bags!