Chile Fjords-Patagonia Day 2
Chile Fjords-Patagonia
OAT Day 2 - Saturday, December 1, 2007- Join the Scheduled OAT Tour - Santiago, Chile - Enjoy Welcome Drink & Dinner
December 1 – Happy 34th anniversary to the Garcias!
Today we transferred to a neighboring hotel just two blocks away and joined the OAT group. Most of the others traveling with OAT flew into Santiago this morning as we had done a week ago today.
We had breakfast and then finished packing our bags. We took all of our luggage to the lobby and at 11 AM we were met by our OAT tour director, Maria Elena who greeted all of us with a warm smile.
Porters from our new hotel, the Hotel Torremayor came to pick up our luggage but we all walked the short way to our new rooms.
We were given our keys and I set up our WiFi account for the internet. Our room is very spacious and we unpacked a few things for the next three days in this hotel.
At 1 PM we met the others in our new OAT group for a short orientation walk around the neighborhood. Although we were familiar with the surroundings, we joined the group to get to know some of the new people with whom we will be spending the next 13 days.
Maria Elena took us for a ninety minute walk helping the newly arrived travelers find places to get money, to eat, and she also pointed out the best places for ice cream. According to Gennie, Maria Elena has her priorities in the right order.
We finished our walk at 2:30 and decided to have a light lunch at SchopDog, a very popular family restaurant. Because it was such a beautiful Saturday (80˚and 34%), many people were out strolling along the streets and enjoying the day.
We returned to our room at 3:15 to catch up on our pictures and to start the journal for the day. The area internet was not functioning and when I went downstairs to see what the problem was the desk clerks told me that even their internet was down.
Our whole group Welcome Meeting was at 5:00 where all “30!” of us OAT travelers met with Maria Elena and Paula, from the Chile office, for a Welcome Drink and Briefing. During this meeting we learned some more details of what's to come in South America.
Paula then briefed us on the whys and how of OAT’s decision to change the group numbers for this trip after we had signed up and paid our money. To say the least, both our group of 14 and the joining group of 16 are very upset with OAT and their change after guaranteeing us a maximum of 16 people per group.
At 6:45 PM we met in the lobby to walk to the Giratorio Restaurant atop one of Santiago’s tallest buildings. Our view from the revolving restaurant on the top floor was spectacular as we watched the sunset over the coastal range and reflecting on the snow capped peaks of the Andes.
During dinner we had an opportunity to get to know our whole group as we feasted on Chilean Sea Bass. We also had the pleasure of tasting one of Chile’s national drinks, the pisco sour. With our meal we had both red and white Chilean wines.
We had a pleasant walk back to our hotel at 9:15 and checked our mail, finished the journal and uploaded the material.
The answer to yesterday’s question on the most effective means of sealing and preserving the wine is the screw cap, according to the wine maker of Gracia winery! Our tour guide, also an expert in wines, disagreed and told us the natural cork was the only way to preserve the essence of the wine.
Accommodations: Hotel TorreMayor - - - Meal: B, D
If you wish to travel with OAT Click Here.
To receive $50 per person off your first reservation with OAT, mention the following information when reserving your Overseas Adventure Travel Trip: Mr. Victor Garcia Customer #673062
Comments
Happy Anniversary! Dutch and I are approaching our 16th anniversary (Dec 21). We still hope to be like you when we grow up!
Post a Comment!What a great looking couple - happy anniversary from all of us in Denmark.
Hotel TorreMayor
Maria Elena, Tour Director
Dinner at Giratorio - Ceiling
Santiago at Sunset
Gen and Vic Anniversary
Featured Journal
Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos
Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...
