Heading out for lands unknown (unknown to us!). Thanks to a global pandemic, this trip was cancelled twice so we are beyond excited to enjoy this highly anticipated vacation! Tim’s mom, Margaret, is joining us for this expedition.
We left KC without issues…. Except that Jay, once again, was assigned to a boarding group 2 groups ahead of Tim. We say “once again” as that happened with all flights to/from Uzbekistan. Tim thinks that because Jay makes the reservations, Jay is intentionally boarding ahead of him. Maybe there is some truth in this, but maybe not!
Our layover in DC was nearly uneventful. Nearly uneventful. While waiting to board our flight to Miami, an announcement was made that all roll-on luggage for the last boarding numbers (8 and 9) had to be checked to one’s final destination as regional jets don’t have space to accommodate. Margaret explained to the ticket agent that we were going to Santiago, not a US destination. Their solution for Margaret to gate check her roll-on, pick it up in Miami, and then go through TSA/Customs again. The viable option was to have Jay carry it on (knowing she was an early boarder she could likely find room before Tim & Margaret joined). Thankfully this worked!
No issues in Miami. We had a long enough layover that we had time to have a sit-down dinner. After hours of flying and waiting in the US, we set off for South America – our fifth continent! When this trip was booked two+ years ago, we opted for Premium Economy seating on each flight which was quite comfortable and had food that was more palatable than what is served in Economy. The seats were spacious and there was plenty of luggage space reserved only for Premium Economy passengers. This was Tim’s first trip in Premium Economy, and he may never want to go back to Economy for long flights!
We landed in Santiago, Chile mid-morning. We promptly headed into the city for hotel check-in. The traffic was minimal, which is the opposite of what we expected! The parts we saw were mostly clean, although there was a lot of tagging & graffiti.
While generally our hotel took up an entire block (at least upper floors, ground level had some other stores and the aforementioned retail space having it’s floor jack-hammered out to re-route plumbing), the entrance was on the side, down a little one-way alley.
Checking in was a bit of a challenge. Not only was there a language barrier, but there was nonstop jackhammering in a space next to the hotel lobby that made it nearly impossible to try to communicate. Days before departure, the hotel confirmed that if we wanted to check in early we could do so by paying for half of a night’s stay. No problem – we wanted to drop our bags and start exploring. As Jay tried to check us in, the hotel staff told her no early check-in allowed period (told is a loose term as a translator app was used to try to iron out the wrinkle). After nearly one hour of using apps to translate and tolerating the jack hammer, we were finally able to check-in early!
During our travels the previous day, we received word that our private excursion for this day was cancelled because the person who heads up tours in English was ill. Will we get to reschedule the tour (with an English speaking guide)? You’ll just have to see on tomorrow’s blog.
We ended up hanging out in the hotel in the afternoon, and for dinner walked to a restaurant – Victorino’s – for dinner. Jay & Margaret ordered the filet mignon, which was either 120$ or 12$. We were not sure how the sign read as we were not used to how Chilean Pesos are presented versus how USD is presented. Either way, we figured it would be a good story to tell… either “I cannot believe we paid 120$ for a steak” or “holy moley! Did we just eat a filet for 12$?”. Fortunately is was the latter!
Dinner capped off our first day in Santiago. More adventures tomorrow!