Cerro San Cristobal

Yesterday, I climbed Cerro San Cristobal with 3 other girls from my hostel. The top of the San Cristobal is the highest point in the city, and has a giant statue of Mary looks out over Santiago and is supposed to protect the city. There's a gondola that takes you up to the peak, but we decided to walk both ways. It took a little over an hour to get to the top, and a pack of about 8 strays followed us all the way up. Note to self: pet a stray and you're its new best friend. One little muddy fluffball didn't leave my side until we got to the statue. The view from the top was amazing, but the smog in the valley is so thick that you have to really look for the Andes, even though they're HUUUGE and right in front of you. I'll have to go back up on a clear day if there ever is one. 

After we got back down, we walked over to Patio Bellavista, where they have a bunch of little cafes and more expensive souvenir stands, and ate the most delicious frozen yogurt I've ever had IN MY LIFE. They start with plain yogurt and then you pick out what fruits you want and they blend the frozen fruit with the yogurt. Carly, if you read this, you would die of happiness, it's so good. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm not sure if I can ever go back to Yogurtland. (Actually, who am I kidding, of course I'll go back. I need my red velvet. But it won't be the same.) Then we ate amazing sandwiches at Le Bistrot, one of the cafes in the patio, then took the metro back and hung out at the hostel for the rest of the day. 

Jordy, the guy who was working at the hostel last night, made melon con vino again and I went out to Bellavista, "The Bohemian District," with Anna (a German girl at my hostel) and 2 French girls who are staying here. We started out at a club, but Anna and I didn't like it very much, just not our scene I guess haha and went to an Irish pub down the street instead. We tried to practice our Spanish with some locals but that didn't last very long. It's hard to keep talking in Spanish when it's so easy to find people who speak English. When we got back, Jordy told us we missed a very heated political debate at the hostel, when one of the girls started bashing America and one of the Americans got mad. Not sure if I'm really grateful or really bummed that I didn't see it. Apparently Jordy was scared haha.

On the way up San Cristobal:

Mary at the top:

Ma friennnd on the right: