Machu Picchu - Here we come!

While we were staying in Argentina I had wanted to go on a side trip to Machu Picchu but somehow it never worked out with our schedule.  We decided that after spending our March Break in 2013 relaxing on the beach in Costa Rica in a state of near perpetual relaxation that we would go to Machu Picchu for March Break 2014.  What a very different holiday this was to be - six flights, four bus rides, two train rides, three different hotels....  it was a trip not a holiday!

As we left home early in the morning  on March 8th to head to Detroit airport the streets were covered with a thin layer of ice.  We had an uneventful flight from Detroit to Atlanta and then four hours to kill in the Delta Sky Lounge while waiting for our flight to Lima. They had a nice outdoor patio so we sat outside and enjoyed the warmth and sunshine, as well as the free drinks, snacks and wifi.  After such an incredibly cold and long winter, any chance to sit out on a patio in the sunshine was too good to miss.

When we went to board our flight to Lima, both John and I as well as two other guys were pulled aside and not allowed to board.  We like to take advantage of our Sky Miles Priority status and board early so we can get our bags into the overhead compartments before they run out of room.  After a few minutes, the staff gave me the go ahead to board, so I took both of our carry on bags and got on the plane while John waited, not so patiently, at the gate.  But when I got to my seat, another girl was there with the same seat assignment.

Unbeknownst to me, as soon as I had boarded the plane, the staff at the gate told John to "get her back."  (Meaning me). He tried texting me, but, to no avail.  Meanwhile, the girl and I flagged down a flight attendant to help us figure out what to do about our seat situation.  Then the another flight attendant came to get me, and as we started walking off the plane, John was walking onto the plane.  Even though we had booked our seats with his SkyMiles frequent flyer points and John was sure that we wouldn't be upgraded, we had been moved up to Business Class.  Hurray! After some negotiation with other passengers, we were able to get two seats together and finally settled in for our flight to Lima.

As we were relaxing with champagne and orange juice, the pilot came on to announce that there was an error message with the left engine and we had to roll back to the gate for the mechanics to check it out.

A little while later they announced that the light wasn't coming on any more so we could depart - almost an hour late.  I was a bit leery - why was the light coming on in the first place?  Did the light stop coming on or did they fix what was causing the light to come on? But soon we were airborne so I tried not to think about it. The seats folded down flat into beds, so after dinner and a movie (Nebraska), I laid down and had a nice long nap.

We landed in Lima around 12:40 am, quickly moved through customs and immigration, grabbed our luggage and then got a cab to our hotel, the Sheraton, which I had booked using my SPG bonus points.  Our cab driver, Reynaldo, was from Lima but had lived in Virginia for four years.  He told us all about Lima - 11 million people of the 29 million people in Peru live in Lima.

The interior of the Sheraton Convention Centre in Lima - hope you don't have vertigo!

When we checked in at the Sheraton they had upgraded us to the Club Level.  It seems our theory about not being upgraded when booking on points had been proven wrong twice in one day!  We had a quick shower in our lovely room and then went downstairs for our complimentary pisco sour.  Both Chile and Peru claim to be the origin of the this drink and I had been looking forward to trying the Peruvian version.  They tasted similar to me, although the Chilean version uses lemon juice and the Peruvian recipe calls for lime juice. It would be interesting to have a side by side taste test, but not at this late hour.  By 2:30 am, we were finally headed to bed.

Sunday in Santiago

Inside one of the subway stations

For our second full day in Chile we had planned to take a bus to Valparaiso but after a leisurely breakfast we decided that we would rather spend another day exploring Santiago.  We both wanted to visit the relatively new Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (Museum of Memory and Human Rights) which documents the human rights abuses, repression and censorship that occurred in Chile from 1973 to 1990 under the Pinochet regime.  After checking our maps and guidebook we realized that the museum was so far to the west side of the city that it wasn’t on our maps and we were on the far east side of the city.  After walking what seemed like a million miles on Saturday, we decided to try finding the museum by taking the subway.  Santiago’s subway system is so clean and modern with great signage and clear directions – we loved it!  However, we were taking a wild guess as to which subway stop to get off at and we chose the wrong one.  We ended up at a really neat sort of yard sale/outdoor market that stretched on for blocks. 

After checking on the map app on the iphone we were able to find the museum which turns out to be right across the street from the Quinta Normal metro stop.  We each got an audio guide and spent several hours touring the exhibits in the museum.  It was a stark reminder of the rights and freedoms that we take for granted in our country.

(Admission to Museum – donation; $500CH pesos for audio guide, $1 Canadian; subway fare was $600CH pesos, ~$1.20C)

Outside the Museum of Memory and Human Rights
(no photos allowed inside)
On the wall to the right side is the UN Statement on Universal Human Rights



 

Back out in the beautiful sunshine, we returned downtown via the subway to visit the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. John was anxious to see their collection of pre-Columbian artifacts from all of Latin America.  When we finally found the museum, all the doors and windows were boarded up.  There were no signs offering any information, but after doing a search on TripAdvisor when we got home, it turns out that it is closed for renovation for at least one year.  We roamed around the Plaza de Armes, the Cathedral, and a pedestrian shopping plaza on our way to the subway and then ‘home.’   Both of us were amazed at how quickly we were able to get our bearings in Santiago; in no time at all we could find our way easily around the downtown core. 

Once again we went out to restaurant row for a fantastic dinner on an outdoor patio and then off to bed.  We had to be up early the next morning for our 9:20 am flight back to Cordoba.  We were sad to say goodbye to beautiful sunny Santiago and hope to go back and visit there again sometime in the future. 

Airport Bar in the Departure Area - since it was 8 am we went to Starbucks instead.

Weekend in Santiago - Friday/Saturday

Crossing the Andes into Santiago

Last weekend was a long holiday weekend, so John and I decided to take a quick getaway to Santiago Chile. Santiago is only a ninety minute flight from Cordoba and we were able to get a sweet deal on flight and hotel through Expedia. We arrived in Santiago on Friday evening, quickly checked into the Plaza El Bosque Hotel and found that we had a suite with a little kitchenette, dining table, couch, chairs and separate bedroom.  It was located in a beautiful and very clean neighbourhood with lots of excellent restaurants, so after a walk through the parks along the Rio Mapocho we wandered over to restaurant row on Av. Isadora Goyenchea for the first of many wonderful meals that weekend.

Beautiful flowering trees;     Sunset over Santiago

On Saturday morning we took the free city map that John found at the airport and headed out for our self-guided walking tour of Santiago.  First stop was Cerro San Cristobal, the city’s second highest hill.  We wanted to ride the funicular up to the top of the hill but it was closed for repairs.  Luckily there was a free shuttle bus which wound its way up the mountain.  During the ride we were serenaded on board the minibus by a mediocre guitar player/singer who then passed the hat when we reached the summit. At the top we enjoyed the somewhat smoggy view of downtown Santiago from Terraza Bellavista, walked up to see the statue of the Virgen de la Immaculada Concepcion, and wandered around the souvenir shops.  It was hot so we stopped at the refreshment stand for a mote con huesillas which is a very odd looking Chilean concoction of peaches, wheat, and juice that is surprisingly refreshing and delicious.

Smoggy Santiago

Walking through the beautiful parks;       Six foot tall geraniums!

When it was time to head back down again, John suggested we hike back down but I stalled until the bus arrived and we rode back down to the base of the hill in air conditioned comfort, once again serenaded by the same guitar player.  Once we arrived in Barrio Bellavista I convinced John to take the tour of La Chascona, one of the famous poet Pablo Neruda’s residences.  He built the house a bit at a time and it was full of quirky little rooms and odd collectibles.  His house was ransacked right after the military coup in 1973; some of his things were never recovered and his entire library was taken out to the street and burned, but they have brought things from his other homes in Chile to refurnish this one. I thought it was very romantic that he created two designs for the house – one to look like La Chascona (the tangle-haired woman), his wife Matilde and the other a combination of their initials P and M.  We were only allowed to take photos outside and when I asked John to take a photo of the two designs, he looked at me like I was a bit off my rocker, but took it anyway.  I think John was more interested in Neruda the diplomat than Neruda the artist and poet.

(Admission price to La Chascona was $3500CH pesos which is about $7 Canadian).

Street art outside Neruda's home

After a quick visit to The Museo de Belles Artes (admission by donation) we made a quick stop at a cafe for a late lunch where John had a delicious tortilla and I had the world’s worst pizza.  Then we were off again to Plaza de la Constitucion and Palacio de la Moneda, which is the Presidential palace and the site of the dramatic siege that brought Gen. Pinochet to power in 1973.  According to a magazine that I had read on the airplane, there was an art gallery, The Centro Palacio Cultural Palacio la Moneda, with a display of some of Peggy Guggenheim’s collection including works by Picasso, Jackson Pollack and Kandinsky.  In the article, it said that the entrances to the art gallery were at the far right and left hand side of the building.  After a bit of wandering and no sign of any door, we decided we must be at the wrong side of the building and walked an entire block to the other side.  Sure enough, we found the entrance and went in to enjoy the exhibit.  We skipped the rest of the art gallery and only went to the Guggenheim show as we were getting weary, especially me!  By this time we were so far from the hotel we decided to take a taxi back ‘home’ and then found a lovely café where we could have a snack and a glass of wine. 

Art installation called 'Out of Sync' in front of La Moneda

Finally sitting down for a beverage and a snack after a long day's walk

After a long nap it was time for another fantastic dinner with a pisco sour as our pre-dinner aperitif. Both Chile and Peru claim credit for the pisco sour, which is a mix of pisco (brandy), lime juice, bitters, simple syrup and egg white.   It was a refreshingly tart drink and the perfect end to a great day.
Admission to the Art Gallery was $5000CH pesos each, about $10 Canadian; taxi ride across the city was $4000CH, about $8 Canadian) 

Salud!