We wandered back up to the Bellavista neighborhood to visit the hill, Cerro San Cristobal to see the great view of Santiago. A funicular train took us two thirds up of the hill. We walked the rest of the way up to the top where we get to a statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (What? No statue of San Cristobal? Isn’t the hill named after him) We climbed the stairs and get a panoramic view of Santiago. The view is spectacular with the sprawling city in front of us and the massive Andes surrounding us. The night before, Dermott told us that Santiago has a population of six million and that Buenos Aires has twice the population. My head spun realizing the physical size of Santiago and trying to imagine the size of Bueños Aires. There are a good amount of skyscrapers in Santiago. Everywhere I looked there were buildings on the valley floor. There is also a thick hazy veil of brown smog. Thick enough it almost hid some of the closer mountains.
That night, Susie and I met up with Richard, Robby, their families and at an Irish pub called the Dublin for some pre-wedding festivities. It seemed odd to find an Irish pub in Santiago, Chile but not more than a stone’s throw from the Dublin was another Irish pub called the Celtic. I guess you can find an Irish pub almost wherever you (I did go to one in Madrid). It was a fun night; we all enjoy each other’s company while Susie and I each had the biggest hamburgers I’ve ever consumed-the patty was the size of both of my hands put together.
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