Departure Day
We got started fairly early this morning by taking Alfie to his “god parents”, Masha and Bernadette, who live in Felton. They volunteer at the animal shelter with Earline and knew Alfie before Earline fostered him. They have five dogs that they have rescued from the shelter and are great dogs lovers. Alfie will feel right at home in their care.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Scotts Valley Burger King, using a mobile app to give you meal deals. I was introduced to this app by my brother who lives in Florida and as we all are aware, the Floridian retirees are masters at saving money with apps, “early-bird specials” and other various coupons. My deal was two breakfast croissants with tater tots and coffee for $4. Earline, who did not avail herself with an app had to pay $4 for a coffee and junior breakfast burrito. She was so unsophisticated at this retirement thing that she didn’t even ask for a “senior coffee” price! Can you imagine? Then while sitting in the airport, I just learned that today of all days, is “National Pancake Day” and IHOP restaurants are gifting out free pancakes…coffee probably costs $5 though. Take note Floridians.
We then started the Highway 17 Le Mans drive only to get stuck in Silicone Valley commute traffic. We had plenty of travel time before our flight so we just chilled and listened to a lot of public radio whining about issues. We got to the long-term parking structure and noted that the price has now increased to $25/day. Wow..had I known this, I might have booked a room at the El Rancho Park-N-Fly where they charge you $14/day after 10 days of included parking, transportation to the airport and a free breakfast.
At the airport, we easily checked in and because we has TSA-Pre-Check, we zoomed into a long line of other Pre-Checkers. We noticed another empty line called CLEAR where you just walk through. We inquired what that was, and were informed that if you already have Pre-Check, for which we already paid a hefty fee, but now for $15/month, you can have this benefit (billed annually at $179).
https://www.clearme.com/how-it-works
The flight to Atlanta, Georgia was uneventful and we had a short layover for the next leg to Santiago, Chile. SEating was reasonable and they fed and watered us with sufficient red wine to allow me to pop off to sleep but porr Earline had quite some difficulty getting some shut-eye, despite a Halcion sleeping pill.
We arrived shortly before 10 am (five hour time difference from Santa Cruz) and were efficiently me by our personal driver, arranged by Enchanting Travels. The airport is about a 20 minute ride from our hotel and traffic was not too bad. I tipped the drive 3,000 pesos, which equated to $5 US. As we were early, our room was not yet ready but we checked our bags with the hotel personnel and after a great complimentary cappichino, we decided to explore the city on foot.
On our list was to ride the funicula to the top of San Cristobol hill. We walked up Avenina Provincia to the entrance of the park and located the ticket booth. It was a little difficult to decide what choice of ticket to buy as there are multiple options. We chose to ride the funicula to the top and then to take the cable car down (Teleferico). We didn’t know that term but the ticket person was very patient with us. The cost for the two of us was 4,480 pesos (about $7.50 USD).
The funicula is nearly 100 years old (opened in 1925) but it gives a great view of the smoggy city from the top. Believe me, you would not want to walk up that hill. It is 300 meters above the city (984 feet). At the very top, there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, with a 22-meter statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an amphitheater and a chapel. The statue of the Immaculate Conception measures 14 meters tall, and the pedestal on which it rests is 8.3 meters in height. It weighs 36,610 kilograms.[2] Within the pedestal there is a small chapel in which Pope John Paul II prayed and blessed the city of Santiago on April 1, 1987. The statue is lit up at night by lights placed on its sides, allowing it to be viewed from all over Santiago both day and night. That stature was brought up in pieces before there was a mojor road to the top. Prior to the statuue, there was a wooden cross place in the late 1500’s when the city was founded. It was destroyed in an earthquake in the early 1600’s.
The cable car system was only recently reopened in November of 2016. The previous system was inoperable after the gearbox controlling the system’s speed exploded.
There is not much at the top of the hill except a few concession stands, various ferrel dogs sleeping in the sun, and the statue of the Virgin Mary. Still, it is a great day to spend the day and to move after being cooped up in an airplane for 14 hours.
The Costanera Center Torre 2,[5] better known as Gran Torre Santiago (Great Santiago Tower), and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 64-story tall skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the tallest in Latin America.[6] It is the second-tallest building in the Southern hemisphere by highest architectural feature (behind Q1 in Australia) and by highest occupied floor (after Australia's Eureka Tower). It was designed by Argentine architect César Pelli.
We got started fairly early this morning by taking Alfie to his “god parents”, Masha and Bernadette, who live in Felton. They volunteer at the animal shelter with Earline and knew Alfie before Earline fostered him. They have five dogs that they have rescued from the shelter and are great dogs lovers. Alfie will feel right at home in their care.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Scotts Valley Burger King, using a mobile app to give you meal deals. I was introduced to this app by my brother who lives in Florida and as we all are aware, the Floridian retirees are masters at saving money with apps, “early-bird specials” and other various coupons. My deal was two breakfast croissants with tater tots and coffee for $4. Earline, who did not avail herself with an app had to pay $4 for a coffee and junior breakfast burrito. She was so unsophisticated at this retirement thing that she didn’t even ask for a “senior coffee” price! Can you imagine? Then while sitting in the airport, I just learned that today of all days, is “National Pancake Day” and IHOP restaurants are gifting out free pancakes…coffee probably costs $5 though. Take note Floridians.
We then started the Highway 17 Le Mans drive only to get stuck in Silicone Valley commute traffic. We had plenty of travel time before our flight so we just chilled and listened to a lot of public radio whining about issues. We got to the long-term parking structure and noted that the price has now increased to $25/day. Wow..had I known this, I might have booked a room at the El Rancho Park-N-Fly where they charge you $14/day after 10 days of included parking, transportation to the airport and a free breakfast.
At the airport, we easily checked in and because we has TSA-Pre-Check, we zoomed into a long line of other Pre-Checkers. We noticed another empty line called CLEAR where you just walk through. We inquired what that was, and were informed that if you already have Pre-Check, for which we already paid a hefty fee, but now for $15/month, you can have this benefit (billed annually at $179).
https://www.clearme.com/how-it-works
The flight to Atlanta, Georgia was uneventful and we had a short layover for the next leg to Santiago, Chile. SEating was reasonable and they fed and watered us with sufficient red wine to allow me to pop off to sleep but porr Earline had quite some difficulty getting some shut-eye, despite a Halcion sleeping pill.
We arrived shortly before 10 am (five hour time difference from Santa Cruz) and were efficiently me by our personal driver, arranged by Enchanting Travels. The airport is about a 20 minute ride from our hotel and traffic was not too bad. I tipped the drive 3,000 pesos, which equated to $5 US. As we were early, our room was not yet ready but we checked our bags with the hotel personnel and after a great complimentary cappichino, we decided to explore the city on foot.
On our list was to ride the funicula to the top of San Cristobol hill. We walked up Avenina Provincia to the entrance of the park and located the ticket booth. It was a little difficult to decide what choice of ticket to buy as there are multiple options. We chose to ride the funicula to the top and then to take the cable car down (Teleferico). We didn’t know that term but the ticket person was very patient with us. The cost for the two of us was 4,480 pesos (about $7.50 USD).
The funicula is nearly 100 years old (opened in 1925) but it gives a great view of the smoggy city from the top. Believe me, you would not want to walk up that hill. It is 300 meters above the city (984 feet). At the very top, there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, with a 22-meter statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an amphitheater and a chapel. The statue of the Immaculate Conception measures 14 meters tall, and the pedestal on which it rests is 8.3 meters in height. It weighs 36,610 kilograms.[2] Within the pedestal there is a small chapel in which Pope John Paul II prayed and blessed the city of Santiago on April 1, 1987. The statue is lit up at night by lights placed on its sides, allowing it to be viewed from all over Santiago both day and night. That stature was brought up in pieces before there was a mojor road to the top. Prior to the statuue, there was a wooden cross place in the late 1500’s when the city was founded. It was destroyed in an earthquake in the early 1600’s.
The cable car system was only recently reopened in November of 2016. The previous system was inoperable after the gearbox controlling the system’s speed exploded.
There is not much at the top of the hill except a few concession stands, various ferrel dogs sleeping in the sun, and the statue of the Virgin Mary. Still, it is a great day to spend the day and to move after being cooped up in an airplane for 14 hours.
The Costanera Center Torre 2,[5] better known as Gran Torre Santiago (Great Santiago Tower), and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 64-story tall skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the tallest in Latin America.[6] It is the second-tallest building in the Southern hemisphere by highest architectural feature (behind Q1 in Australia) and by highest occupied floor (after Australia's Eureka Tower). It was designed by Argentine architect César Pelli.
