First steps

Hello everyone,

Now we're onto round two. First and foremost, we arrived safely in Santiago de Chile, everything went well with the flights and our luggage landed where it was supposed to. For me, it was my first time flying and I must say that taking off from the ground felt amazing. Once we broke through the cloud cover leaving gloomy Frankfurt behind, it inevitably reminisced the last holiday by the sea and that bright and wide horizon. The next time I drink tomato juice, I'm sure that it will remind me of this wonderful moment.

Unfortunately, after arriving, I had to hit the sack because not only was I wished well upon my departure from Germany, but I also caught a cold. Fortunately, Anja remained healthy and was able to explore the first three days on her own, discovering sights and street vendors, and then shared her experiences with me in the evening.

On the mend and outside in the sunshine at 22° in the shade, I was surprised to find out that, as a Central European of average height, I suddenly seemed a lot taller. It quickly became evident that being tall isn't just about having a good view of everything, but also about having a duty to help smaller people. So, within a short time, I had replaced a light bulb and reached something from the top shelf in the supermarket.

It's really wonderful to see how vibrant everything is here, even when things don't necessarily match. Of course, this varies in intensity from neighborhood to neighborhood, but it serves as an overarching style. The many street vendors everywhere are also quite unusual, mostly selling (very sugar-heavy) drinks and snacks. I was particularly impressed by one guy who, during rush hour, stood on a jam-packed main street with four or five lanes and tried to sell chilled ice cream loudly and with gestures. Although most responded to his sales technique by winding up their windows, business seemed to be booming nevertheless.

There's a lot of sweet stuff everywhere and it seems to be part of the culture, which, in my opinion, also reflects in the prevailing beauty ideal. Or maybe it's the other way around. The female ideal is definitely curvier than in Europe, but that doesn't stop anyone from wearing skin-tight clothes nonetheless.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that we are enjoying our time here very much. We plan to spend about a week more in Santiago before setting off to quieter and more rural areas. There may even be a few pictures from our mountain tours at that time.

Many colorful greetings from Santiago

Pascal and Anja