Friday Dec. 7
It was my last day in Chile, ahhh!
I was sleeping in, but realized that there are better ways to spend my last hours in Santiago.
I spent the day on Cerro Santa Lucía – a hill in the downtown – a mound of rock and plants that rises above the buildings in the center of the city. We had visited on my first day, back when it was colder and cloudier. This day was perfect though. Sunny, 82 F and cloudless. I adventured around the hill – exploring all of the different areas that I hadn’t seen before in the park. It was the perfect way to spend my last day. I stood at the top of the hill and took a panorama, but this time I knew exactly what I was looking at as I gazed around.
I am going to miss this place. This city. This country.
After my relaxing day on the cerro, I started to get kind of hungry, so I headed to Barrio Italia on bus. I went back to one of my favorite shawarma places in Santiago – a small business that had just opened up in a gallery – in the space between a patio, print shop and sex shop. The owner had recognized me from our conversation before, which made me smile (supporting small businesses is the best). After that, I went to a café, had my last chirimoya juice, and wrote this blog while Christmas pop played in the background.
That night, I headed back to the apartment and had a last dinner with Cecilia. Funny enough, we went to a place that sold American style wings and whatnot. It was even called “Wings and Rings” in English. A taste of home, the night before returning (except I never eat wings in the States). We interacted a little the family at the table next to us – Cecilia offered her fries to their little kids because she didn’t want them, it was sweet.
That night, I finished packing and said my goodbyes to Cecilia, since I was leaving early the next morning.
