Last Day With Kelly!

Our last day together was a Monday. Luckily it was a holiday, so I didn't have any classes, but that also meant that a lot of restaurants and buildings were closed. I also had zero money and no way to get any until Wednesday, so luckily Kelly is amazing and was able to spot me for the day.

Nolan decided to do a walking tour until 2:30pm, so Kelly and I thought we would spend some some girl time together. We decided to walk up the Cerro Santa Lucia while we chatted. The last time I went I was about a staircase short of making it to the top because it was so crowded and the stairs were pretty narrow (I don't do well with heights...or stairs) but it was less crowded this time around, so we spent a good half hour getting our exercise on and see a pretty decent view of Santiago. After we made our descent we decided to go and find something to eat. A few nights before when Kelly was walking back to her hostel by herself from a restaurant, she had gotten lost in an area with a lot of good looking restaurants, so we decided to try and find this street again. It was pretty close, but a lot of the restaurants were overpriced or closed. But we ended up finding a real live cafe called Wonderful (there aren't a lot of real cafes here with real coffee) that I am now in love with. My vanilla latte was amazing and the was a heart in the foam! Plus I had a ham and cheese croissant, which is pretty hard to mess up. And Kelly's tuna salad was huge, and looked pretty good!

Afterwords we decided that we wanted to get some ice cream. Pretty much all the guidebooks and people you talk to will tell you that La Emporio de la Rosa had the best ice cream in Santiago, so we decided to find it. Lucky for us, there was a map at the end of the street we were on (it must be a pretty touristy area) and it turns out it was only a block away! Their ice cream is seriously to die for, especially their rose flavored one! So I got a double scoop of rose and Kelly got a scoop of rose and a scoop of honey banana, and we headed over to the park across the street to sit in the sun, eat our delicious ice cream, and enjoy the wonderful company ;) One of the hardest parts about Kelly's visit is that it made me really miss home! I don't really get homesick for the people because skype and facebook do a pretty good job of letting me stay in touch, but Kelly is somebody that I always see at home, so I think seeing her in a foreign setting felt weird, and made me miss our Tuesday night dinners and study sessions, and really made me miss Seattle.

Anyways, after finishing our ice cream and giving up on trying to name the last 3 countries in South America (I mean, how can anybody be expected to remember Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana?) we headed back to the hostel to meet up with Nolan and then headed to the Mercado Vega which is a big fruit and vegetable market. We spent some time walking through the stalls, eating churros, and drinking some more Jugo Natural. Once we were good and full, we decided it was finally time to head over to the Cerro San Cristobal.

Now I thought that the Cerro Santa Lucia was impressive, but San Cristobal makes it look like a bump. To get to the top, you can spend forever walking up the winding roads, or take a funicular to the top. Nolan happens to be pretty scared of heights, and as many of you know, I'm not to fond of them either, and his nervousness was definitely contagious as we waited in line. It didn't help that there were babies screaming either. On the ride up Nolan and I pretty much faced the back wall and held on for dear life, refusing to look out at the view, I mean, I've been on the Tower of Terror, I know what happens if those cables break. But everything was fine once we finally got to the top and I could put my feet on solid ground once again.

The view was stunning. You could literally see the entire city from the top. Fog was starting to set in around the Andes, so their view was partially obstructed, but the view of Santiago was breathtaking. They had some food stands and artisan crafts at the top along with a gigantic (seriously really freaking huge) statue of the Virgin Mary. There were also several gardens with benches to sit and reflect. I definitely plan on going back up the hill. There are apparently 2 swimming pools, and even a zoo (!) on the hill.

We ended the night by heading to a restaurant across the corner from the hostel which was surprisingly good and had big portions for a pretty low price.

I headed home pretty soon after dinner since they had an early morning plane to catch back to Buenos Aires. Basically it was a ton of fun, and I am super happy that Kelly got to come and visit me! And I am so unbelievably excited to visit her tomorrow!!

Which reminds me, while I am going I will not have my computer with me *gasp*! I'm actually already having separation anxiety, but I should have sporadic access to computers at the hostel. So basically, I will be less available that I usually am, so don't freak out! :)