HISTORY & SOME FACTS:
Santiago was founded in 1541 by a Spanish conquistador and has been the capital of Chile since colonial times. It is Chile’s largest city as well as one of the largest cities in Central & South America.
The metropolitan area population here is nearly 7 million now. It is not a coastal city as many of you probably think, but rather it lies in the central valley a two hour drive from the Pacific coast. Even though the Andes mountains can be seen from the city, they are also a couple hour drive away. The Andes is responsible for the city’s smog and early morning fog problem mostly during the winter months. The international airport lies just 10 miles west of the city center with an elevation of 1555 feet. I experienced the fog problem first hand when I was flying the MIA and DFW routes as an American Airlines captain to the SCL (Santiago) airport. I remember one flight in particular that I had to divert to my alternate airport for more fuel and to wait for the fog to lift. Not something one wants to be doing after a 10 hour all night flight.
Santiago, probably the most modern city in Latin America, is the cultural, industrial, and financial center in Chile which generates 45% of the country’s GDP. It has a strong economy combined with low government debt. They tried to address the air pollution (smog) problem back in the 1990’s but little progress has been made. One of the major contributors to the smog comes from the smelter of a nearby copper mine. They have developed a very extensive, clean, and safe subway system to try to reduce the smog coming for cars. I believe subway system was built by a French company. I say this as some crew members would buy the inexpensive Chilean tokens and use them in the Paris, France, subways. The average time people spend commuting with public transit each weekday is 84 minutes.
The valleys along the coastal plain are very fertile with the main crops being grains, potatoes, beans, and of course, grapes. Copper, gypsum, and limestone are also mined in the region. Chilean wines are now world class and exported all over the world. Vineyards are on the mountain slopes of the valleys which I could see every time I flew into the SCL airport. Of course fishing is a major industry off the Chilean coast. Who hasn’t heard of their famous Chilean sea bass. The cargo compartment of my Boeing 777 was packed full of fresh fish being flown back to the States every night.
Remember the seasons below the Equator are reversed, so their summers (Nov-Mar) are warm and dry reaching 95F on the hottest days. Their winters (Jun-Aug) are cool and humid with a typical high temperature reaching the upper 50’s.
What We Did Today:
Downtown is like a ghost town on Saturdays. Yesterday was hustle & bustle with people filling sidewalks. Not today! Glad we went to pharmacy yesterday as most shops closed today. Mall probably open however. I will go there again later this afternoon to walk around.
We enjoyed great breakfast buffet this morning in hotel restaurant. Breakfast buffets in South America hotels are incredible! We enjoyed a great conversation with couple from Boston at breakfast. They were also on our flight down here and doing cruise to Easter Island and Samoa on Crystal Cruises. Probably have drinks in executive lounge with them this evening also.
Now back from hour in gym to doing our workouts. No need for lunch today after that breakfast. Probably just have dinner in hotel restaurant this evening. Normally do not like to dine in hotel but manager said it was very good. Besides, I get a 25% discount due to my diamond status. It is Italian which I love.
What We Did Last Night:
We had drinks in the hotel Executive Lounge. She made me a pisco sour. I could not pronounce her name so called her "Joe". She thought that was funny name.
This is restaurant I had made reservations in for dinner. It was basically empty when we arrived at 7:00 but started filling up after 8:00. South American people dine late. I was very disappointed with out dinner. Not nearly as good as restaurants in Buenos Aires. Rebecca like chardonnay and I like the carmenere (red) so we had bottles of both. Why not, we are on vacation.
Heading to the port tomorrow. Regent is sending a limo for us at 11:00am. Will be posting later tomorrow evening after getting settled in our suite. We have dinner reservations at 7:00 pm in Prime 7 (steakhouse on ship) with our friend from Toronto, Marcia Rector.
Santiago was founded in 1541 by a Spanish conquistador and has been the capital of Chile since colonial times. It is Chile’s largest city as well as one of the largest cities in Central & South America.
The metropolitan area population here is nearly 7 million now. It is not a coastal city as many of you probably think, but rather it lies in the central valley a two hour drive from the Pacific coast. Even though the Andes mountains can be seen from the city, they are also a couple hour drive away. The Andes is responsible for the city’s smog and early morning fog problem mostly during the winter months. The international airport lies just 10 miles west of the city center with an elevation of 1555 feet. I experienced the fog problem first hand when I was flying the MIA and DFW routes as an American Airlines captain to the SCL (Santiago) airport. I remember one flight in particular that I had to divert to my alternate airport for more fuel and to wait for the fog to lift. Not something one wants to be doing after a 10 hour all night flight.
Santiago, probably the most modern city in Latin America, is the cultural, industrial, and financial center in Chile which generates 45% of the country’s GDP. It has a strong economy combined with low government debt. They tried to address the air pollution (smog) problem back in the 1990’s but little progress has been made. One of the major contributors to the smog comes from the smelter of a nearby copper mine. They have developed a very extensive, clean, and safe subway system to try to reduce the smog coming for cars. I believe subway system was built by a French company. I say this as some crew members would buy the inexpensive Chilean tokens and use them in the Paris, France, subways. The average time people spend commuting with public transit each weekday is 84 minutes.
The valleys along the coastal plain are very fertile with the main crops being grains, potatoes, beans, and of course, grapes. Copper, gypsum, and limestone are also mined in the region. Chilean wines are now world class and exported all over the world. Vineyards are on the mountain slopes of the valleys which I could see every time I flew into the SCL airport. Of course fishing is a major industry off the Chilean coast. Who hasn’t heard of their famous Chilean sea bass. The cargo compartment of my Boeing 777 was packed full of fresh fish being flown back to the States every night.
Remember the seasons below the Equator are reversed, so their summers (Nov-Mar) are warm and dry reaching 95F on the hottest days. Their winters (Jun-Aug) are cool and humid with a typical high temperature reaching the upper 50’s.
What We Did Today:
Downtown is like a ghost town on Saturdays. Yesterday was hustle & bustle with people filling sidewalks. Not today! Glad we went to pharmacy yesterday as most shops closed today. Mall probably open however. I will go there again later this afternoon to walk around.
We enjoyed great breakfast buffet this morning in hotel restaurant. Breakfast buffets in South America hotels are incredible! We enjoyed a great conversation with couple from Boston at breakfast. They were also on our flight down here and doing cruise to Easter Island and Samoa on Crystal Cruises. Probably have drinks in executive lounge with them this evening also.
Now back from hour in gym to doing our workouts. No need for lunch today after that breakfast. Probably just have dinner in hotel restaurant this evening. Normally do not like to dine in hotel but manager said it was very good. Besides, I get a 25% discount due to my diamond status. It is Italian which I love.
What We Did Last Night:
Heading to the port tomorrow. Regent is sending a limo for us at 11:00am. Will be posting later tomorrow evening after getting settled in our suite. We have dinner reservations at 7:00 pm in Prime 7 (steakhouse on ship) with our friend from Toronto, Marcia Rector.
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