Day 2 in Santiago

After catching up some sleep we were more on our game on Saturday.

We opened with an awesome brunch in a Cafe a few blocks from our hotel. I'm not sure if we've ever seen or tasted a more beautiful yogurt parfait.

Awesome brunch at La Panera Rosa - and no it wasn't anything like Panera Bread.

We explored most of the day in Parque Metropolitano de Santiago. In early afternoon we arrived in Estacion Oasis and took the cable car to the top of San Cristobal Hill. 

The weather and the views were perfect. 

Best cable car ride since Disney World. Unbelievable views of both the city and the Andes.

A lovely Saturday.

It was nearly sensory overload:

Pine trees on the hill that have bent eastward from the wind. A foreshadowing of the winds to come in Patagonia.

• sounds of the wind in quiet parts, the crowds in others

• gorgeous scenery everywhere 

• Feel of the sun and the warm stone walls - in a few days I think we'll wish we could have packed these as handwarmers

• the smells - pine trees releasing their oils in the dry warm air, sage plants in the underbrush

• and we couldn't pass up raspberry popsicles

In a few days I'm going to wish this sun-warmed stone wall is inside of my gloves.

You get the picture. It was nice.

At the summit of San Cristobal Cerro stands the sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception.

The statue of the Immaculate Conception

The sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception.

Walked our way down the hill to the Observatorio Manuel Foster. Here, we got to "operate" a manual telescope built in 1903 that is still functional today. Santiago has a thin atmosphere and weather patterns that are favorable for space observation.

1903 technology for a telescope that still works today. It looks like R2-D2.

The telescope inside the observatory.

Beth operating the telescope by rotating it to the right spot. She is now an astro-physicist!

Why stop at rotation when you can have a look at a spectrograph? That's right >120 years in operation and this can still map out the DNA of stars!

Thank you for sticking with this post! We tackled a lot on Saturday and the unexpected surprise of this original observatory we thought was a cool discovery. Also, wanted to get some content out there before we started the part of the adventures with "spotty" connections.

P.S. - We do have to add that we enjoyed our first Pisco sours -- the national drink of Chile.

Cheers!