Day 48 - A dog of a day

Santiago

We started the morning as we like to in a new city with a free walking tour, its a great way to get to find the interesting parts that you want to go back and visit and to get a lay out of the city.

Before the tour we searched for something light for breakfast, but all the shops around the Plaza De Armas seemed to only sell hot dogs and hamburgers. We finally found a medialuna (like a mini croissant), but K wasn't too happy that it was filled with dulce del leche (caramel).

This walking tour was longer than the ones we've had elsewhere, more than four hours with a restaurant break in the middle, but the time was well spent as Santiago has a lot to offer. We enjoyed the Changing of the Guards at Plaza de la Constitucion, with horses, dogs, a brass band and lots of military it was excellent, much more interesting than the one at Buckingham Palace.

Not sure why they need to change so many at once

All through South America we've found that stray dogs are everywhere, and Santiago is no exception. One of the highlights of the tour was the fat stray dog that met the tour part of the way (as he apparently does every day), followed us for a while, then disappeared, only to reappear a little further on - he could almost run the tour! The guide told us that a few days ago the newspaper's front page showed a picture of a protest in the city and the same dog was in the front of the photo! The locals actually look after the strays with dog kennels in the parks and clothing in winter.

"Australian Gold" .... some sort of suntan lotion we think

We finished the tour near the base of Cerro San Cristobal, so we caught the funicular up for a view of Santiago, though the smog had a big impact on visibility, it was difficult to make out the Andes in the distance. After wandering up to the statue of the Virgin Mary, we walked down, then made our way back to our airbnb via an asian supermarket to pick up a some Thai curry sauce to have with dinner .... we are missing the variety of cuisines we have back home.