Santiago - Chile

Oh my god - how much!? Everything so expensive!!!! Let me out of here! Quite a cool city, but everyone is a lot more westernised here, so not really interesting for that reason. The "colonial" architecture hasn´t really been preserved that well apart from in the main square, and more effort seems to have been put into the modern buildings, which aren´t that fantastic. However, stayed in a brilliant hostel, with the biggest most amazing kitchen ever (well, for a hostel). Bought some pasta and sauce to make a cheap dinner, and everyone else was making roasts and shepherd´s pie type things with strawberry daquiris on the side! I had a look around the main "Plaza de Armas" (every main square in South America is called that), and there were lots of (pretty crap) street performers, lots of heladerias (ice cream parlours - YES NICE), and a big busy cathedral where people were going in and out most of the day it seemed. They´re very serious about their church-going in every city I´ve been in S.Am. Also went up a hill in a park in the centre which had some good views of the city.