D28 -- Farewell Santiago

The last four weeks finally caught up with us today as we waited for our midnight flight back to Dallas. We had initially planned on an ambitious day of touring museums and craft markets, but quickly realized we were pretty wiped out and needed to take it easy. We ended up skipping the museums and the craft markets. Instead, we took the trolley up to the highest point in Santiago where we got some good views, although the always-present smog largely obscures the mountains that surround the city. There was a chapel at the top of the hill, and an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary. We did make a quick stop at a small craft market, but then headed to a café for some R&R. In the end we decided that Santiago was our least favorite stop so far, as it does not have the energy or charisma of Buenos Aires or the natural beauty of the Patagonia towns.

- Thomas