Five Star Inn

The guests finally arrived!!!

Our five star inn filled up nicely with our Austrian guests. The first few days we got to know Santiago with Tanja, Siegi and Niklaus. As you may guess, we had planned a full programme so that we have time to see and do as much as possible.

We did some sightseeing...

And saw some of the most important monuments...



We tried out the local night life...

We got to know the local culture...

And had an overview of the city...

We were taking many photos...





We ate well...

And we went grocery shopping...

Another programme point was barbecuing in Santuario de la Naturaleza de Arrayán. You remember, the one we tested before the guests arrived. As we arrived late, we had to search before we found a spot for us. But we had luck!







After the sun set it was time to go home big bellied and look forward to the holiday in Santa Cruz!

Parks, Birds and Pueblitos

On the day of the great pancakes we discovered other amazing things in Santiago.

Parque Araucano












Peacock Paradise
Pavo real means "royal turkey" in Spanish. Can you see they have crowns?

He was gorgeous! I have never seen a peacock before, and although I was sad seeing all the birdies in cage, I was also happy to see the peafowls for the first time.

She is obviously looking at me saying: "Stop staring at my husband's hiney!"


Pueblito Los Dominicos
It is a cultural little village presenting Chilean handicraft and way of living.

"You Can Eat, Eat and Eat But Nothing Will Ever Fill That Void"

Brad Pitt got that right in one of the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends. Nevertheless, we keep on eating! Like Ross said: "We can't keep eating like this!"

After Lukas got back from his business trip we started doing test runs in restaurants, cafés and parks in order to know what to show our guests when they are here. As you can see, we take our job as hosts very seriously!! :D

Here are a few sample photos to show the variety of the selection of restaurant and café culture in Santiago!

Zanzibar is a restaurant of international cuisine in BordeRio, a hub of many restaurants.

We tried the Congo chicken with spinache and dried banana. Delicious!

I love restaurants with a theme. Zanzibar gave me many ideas and made me want to decorate my balcony with an oriental touch.

Café Melba is a breakfast and lunch restaurant which does not serve alcohol. It is owned by a Kiwi and is very popular among gringos.

My favourite memory from my time in the States is their mouth-watering pancakes with maple syrup. And now I found them in Santiago with a touch of lemon, whipped cream and blueberries!

And some healthy müsli with papaya sauce, natural yogurt and fresh fruits.

As you can see, Chile's kitchen has a lot more to offer than just wine and pisco! After all these rich meals all you can do is say: "I'm curvy, and I like it!"

Favourite Chilean Pastime

There are still plenty of things to explore in Santiago.

Huaso is a local cowboy, which we saw last weekend whilst searching a new place to visit.

Santuario de la Naturaleza del Arrayán

We are on our way to Santuario de la Naturaleza del Arrayán (nature's sanctuary), which is a natural reserve just 20 minute drive away from home.

There we found out where all the Santiaguiños take off during the weekends and public holidays. Many of them go to the nearby nature where they can be found having an asado (=barbecue) with their friends and family. If the weather treats them, time and meat will not be spared! However, we concentrated this time on sports rather than eating, which we are saving for the time when the guests arrive.

I was happy to find just a beautiful spot of nature so close to us!

We went up hiking aimlessly...

... saw a rainbow lizard sunbathing...

... and found some mega cactus on our way!

The spikes can be nearly 10cm long! And sharp as needles!

You see?





Spring is in full bloom in the valley.

Luki chose a path that was not always the easiest with my slippery runners.




Santuario de la Naturaleza Yerba Loca

Yerba Loca was packed with cars which was amazing because the route was not too car-friendly. Another unwanted surprise there were some kind of big red spring bugs that like blondes especially... I tell you, I sure was missing the Finnish airforce, the mosquitos!

The water contains a great amount of sulfates which gives it an incredible, turquoise color.









After half an hour walk, we decided to cross the river adventurously over sticks and stones. Here I'm estimating whether my balance will work.

Well, it looked worse there than it does now!

And I managed to cross the river with style although not very elegantly!

We were lucky to be driving a Nissan Navara pick-up!

We drove at least 38 curves upwards to a ski resort called Colorado, and this was the view you got. We are at an altitude of 2300m.

Sun setting for the day created a misty image.