A bike ride and a long plane flight

Ahhh, it was finally here, our last day in South America. Luckily we had a pretty big day planned which included exploring the city of Santiago one last time.

The lovely Santiago streets

We decided to pack our bags early and after being here for a few days already, the room and our clothes were still covered in confetti from the soccer match a couple of days earlier. This stuff was almost impossible to get rid of!

For today we had a bike tour planned which would start at 2:30pm and go until about 5pm. Our flight was at 2am so it was going to be a very long day indeed, so we wanted to make sure we were tired so that we could sleep well on the plane.

Time for a bike ride around Santiago

Again we went exploring, but it was a bloody freezing day so we had to rug up. Even Adam had gloves on which was a rare sight. By now it was about midday and we had found a nice little outdoor reastuarant with heaters that had the France vs Nigeria match playing.

So we settled in here for the match, but later had to bail given it was absolutely freezing outside. We walked about 100 metres only to find a nice little cafe that also had the game going, but inside and with the heater going. Doh.

We watched the second half in here and ordered some coffees and a delicious yoghurt cake. France went on to win 2-0 which was pretty cool given we had seen France play twice live already this tournament. By the time this finished it was about 20 minutes until our bike ride, so we headed off.

Meeting a new friend on our bike ride

On the way Adam dropped his phone smashing the screen, so it was not a great start to the bike ride. Luckily it was still usable so we were able to get some good photos still.

We met with out tour guide, a young girl in her early 20s name Nacha who was super nice. She had just completed university and was an English teacher, so that was good news for us given hardly anyone in Chile spoke English.

Nacha took us around the city and showed us all the parks and famous political areas. Along the way we even picked up a friend; a stray dog who followed us for about 75% of the way. Even when we stopped and went inside buildings, this dog would wait for us and then follow us again.

A pretty famous area of Chile

He seemed like a pretty nice dog, but at one intersection he went off and then come back with a pigeon in his mouth. He ended up killing it and leaving it on the side of the road as we were driving off. Not something you see every day!

It was a great tour. Chile has so much history, some of it pretty gruesome, and Nacha taught us heaps while keeping it nice and up vibe. We even stopped for a hot chocolate half way which was fun and she told us how much she loved soccer and how shattered she was when the Chileans lost to Brazil.

She gave us some ideas of how to spend the evening, telling us of this epic shopping centre just up the road. It was epic indeed, with about 8 levels of shops, so we settled in here for a few hours. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and watched the end of the Germany vs Algeria match, which Germany won 3-2 after extra time.

We then went exploring to kill a few hours and then came back to Hard Rock for tea. We both ordered haystack salads which we usually do when we go there. We then had another hour before going to the airport so went exploring some more.

Germany vs Algeria at the Hard Rock Cafe

It was then back to the hotel to collect our bags and then head to the airport. We booked a taxi which we were told would take 15 minutes, but after 35 minutes of waiting we decided to get one ourselves. Once we got to the airport we saw a massive line of people and yep, it was of course for our flight which had been delayed for 3 hours....

Luckily we were flying Premium Economy so we cut to the front of the queue and bought ourselves into the lounge. The wait was pretty good, Linnie made a bed and went to sleep and there was plenty of free food and drinks to be had.

Linnie enjoying a haystack salad

So instead of flying at 1:50am, we took off at 4:30am in the end. Within minutes of boarding the plane we were both sound asleep and missed breakfast. Before we knew it we were back in Sydney, and then in Melbourne, and then in Ballarat.

It was about 3pm by the time we got to Ballarat, so rather than go home we went to the movies to see 22 Jump Street, then it was time to finally head back home.

What a superb trip, some memories that will last forever and this blog has captured all the best bits. We can't wait to look back on here in years to come and relive it all again.

Our trip to The Andes

Today was our trip to The Andes. We had to get up early and meet our bus driver at 8:15am for what was a 1-2 trip up into The Andes. We rugged up as we had since found out that Santiago is one very cold place!

Enjoying ourselves in The Andes

Along the way we stopped for some breakfast at a BP equivalent and we stocked up on M&M's, chips and some drinks. We also had the chance to hire some snow boots and waterproof pants which later turned out to be an inspired purchase.

With all our supplies now purchased the next stop was The Andes, finally. We went along some very narrow and windy roads which were reminiscent of our trip to Cusco, but the scenery here was absolutely amazing. There were some epic houses in the hills which we have no idea how they got built.

Linnie looking like an angel

Now we were starting to get high and the green grass was now covered in white snow. Our first stop was a little town which was basically just restaurants and snow skiing shops, along with the chance to ski if you wished. We only had about 40 minutes here to explore, but it was good fun.

It was then back on to the bus and the tour guide said we were in for a treat as we got to go to a stop that they normally don't go to. We stopped by the side of the road in a paddock of snow and got to go exploring which was great. After a mini snow fight and falling over a few times in the snow, we had our fun and headed back to the bus again.

Holland vs Mexico at lunch

Our last stop was at the top of the hill where all the hotels, lodges and restaurants were, along with their famous snowfields. It was about midday and we had until 4:30pm to explore. After a bit of a walk around we found somewhere to have lunch and luckily they had the World Cup on.

Mexico were taking on the Netherlands and we got there in the second half right before Mexico scored to go up 1-0. We ordered some soup and hamburgers and settled in for the game. The Mexicans held a 1-0 lead for most of the second half before conceding a very late goal just before injury time.

Strange place to watch football

Then Arjen Robben took a dive in the penalty box and the Dutch received a penalty. They score in the 94th minute and claim a 2-1 win despite the disgust of many fans inside the restaurant. After that we decide to head on and do some more exploring.

We found a little snowfield and had a pretty cool snow fight, with snow everywhere from our hair down to our backs. Some Canadian's walked by and got some photos of us and we spoke to them for a while. They were pretty nice.

Time went pretty quick and we were then back in the bus. It was a long trip home, not getting back till about 6pm. We checked the scores from the Costa Rica vs Greece game and it was 1-1 after 100 minutes, but for some strange reason we couldn't get coverage on our hotel room television, so we set off looking for somewhere to watch it.

Ahhh, a home cook meal

After looking everywhere and realising we were going to miss the shootout, we walked past a phone shop which had a tv. We huddled at the window with about 50 others right when the shoot out started. Costa Rica ended up winning 5-3.

It was now tea time and given our hotel had a kitchen we decided to make a home cook meal. We found a local supermarket and made some stir fry and cooked mushrooms which was absolutely beautiful. It was our last night of the holiday which was pretty sad.

Heartbreak in Santiago, Chile

After a little sleep in we thought we'd go explore some of Santiago a bit. First impressions are this was a very nice city with a bit in common with European cities with plenty of bricks and cobblestones everywhere. We also noticed a lot of bakeries which was a change in scenery from Brazil.

Mapocho River with The Andes

Our aim today was to explore the city a little in the morning, then find somewhere to watch the much anticipated Chile vs Brazil second round match. We got quite a bit of luck coming in on the day that Chile were taking on Brazil and we knew it would be a big afternoon.

Without any idea where we were heading or where the festivities were we set off on our way and got ourselves a Berlinner for breakfast, basically a jam donut which was absolutely divine. They sold these in Germany so it took us back to our time there.

Next up we managed to find the Mapocho River which runs directly through the city from The Andes. There was a beautiful view of The Andes in the background which is what makes this such a beautiful city. We checked out a few stops and then realised the match was starting soon, so followed a few local fans kitted out in their Chile gear.

Chile vs Brazil time

That led us to a Fed Square type area that had a big screen, police everywhere and over 5,000 fans cheering as the game was shortly due to kick off. Of all the fans we saw on our Brazil trip, the Chileans were the ones who cheered the loudest and had the best chants and songs.

Listening to them belt out the national anthem was spine tingling. Kick off was just as exciting and the game started off pretty frantically. But things went quiet in the 18th minute when David Luis scored for Brazil and everyone dropped their head.

It didn't take long to get loud again as their star Alexis Sanchez scored an equaliser in the 32nd minute and the noise was absolutely deafening. They seem to celebrate their goals by throwing their beers in the air in which we were covered in, along with confetti everywhere. It was absolutely superb.

GGGGGOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL

The two teams went into half time locked at 1-1 and that was the final score as well after they could not be split after 90 minutes. Next up was extra time and Chile almost stole the match in the last minute of extra time, only to hit the bar and fall agonisingly short.

Oh no, the dreaded penalty shootout! It was now a 50/50 and to say the fans were nervous was an understatement. It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least, Brazil had a 2-0 lead at one stage before some goalkeeping heroics from the Chilean keeper got them back to 2-2 on the final kick.

Covered in beer and confetti

Neymar stepped up for Brazil and made it 3-2. So here we go, if Chile missed this it was all over, if they hit it we continue on. Gonzalo Jara was selected to take the kick, much to the gasps of the fans. He stood up, took the kick and then saw the ball rebound off the side bar. Chile had lost :(

You could almost hear a pin drop. Chile fans were shattered, some on their knees crying, while most vacated the area pretty much instantly. It was actually pretty sad as we felt bad for them. The party afterwards would have been amazing had they won.

Columbia scoring vs Uruguay

Anyway after a day which saw us get soaked in beer and confetti and god knows what else, we headed back to the hotel and had a shower and asked the hotel clerk where we should eat tea. We also booked in a trip to The Andes for tomorrow which we were looking forward to.

We found a restaurant area and watched the Colombia vs Uruguay game with a bunch of Colombian fans. That was also good fun as they went on to win the game 2-0 and it was a pretty good vibe in there. After that we grabbed some tacos and headed on home to the hotel to round out a pretty exciting day.