CHILE: Santiago - Las Condes & Downtown

Santiago – a really pleasant and very unexpected surprise. While a lot going for it in terms of good weather with 6 months of summer and that’s not unexpected (Caribbean all year round but you need to discount hurricane season), what’s really amazing is the quality of infrastructure and superior level of urban development, especially within the area that I had spent the week over there. Las Condes is a green and well groomed, really nice residential area where you will have trouble selecting from tons of terasses for dinner, biking paths, a very safe and pleasant area to live in.  

Palacio de la Moneda - the presidential palace downtown within a very nice and elegant part of the city. Watching some old movies with former presidents proves that while the past seemed to be a series of democratically elected presidents, it was more about a sucession of dynasties since it all remained in the family throughout generations to come.

Shopping Area downtown with some sketchy spots, it's not for nothing that you see a strong police presence everywhere.