Unfair comparisons

I went back to the hotel for a bit and came out again about 9. Vaguely following the advice of my Chile guide book, I walked over to Providencia. The area around Banquero (that's not the right name, but it's nearly right) metro seemed dead and it was dead for a good 5-10 mins walk past there, but out past Manuel Montt metro station I found a few bars and I'm having a few beers outside a nice little bar (Candil) on a fairly major road.

The road is busy but not unpleasantly so, the traffic noise is that kind of 'whooshy' noise of cars going past which fades into the background, it's not all buses rumbling and motorbikes making that distinctively annoying motorbike noise which I can't think of a good adjective for right now. (I'm sure some people love that sound, but it always sets my teeth on edge.)

I'm just wearing a T-shirt and it's pleasantly cool. It's only a first impression, and apart from that there are lots of things (notably the language and the fact that the guide books scared me shitless about Brazil) which make the comparison unfair, but I feel pretty good here. Rio had fantastic scenery around the edges with the looming mountain/hill things all green and stuff (there's nothing visible like that here, but the mountains - they may be big hills, but I'm inclined to think not - I can see from the hotel here are quite imposing but unattractively rocky and brown) and the bay and everything, but this just seems to suit me better. I hate to use the word, but I'm so tempted to describe what little I've seen of Santiago as elegant without being pretentious.

The weather must help. It was technically gorgeous in Rio during the day but muggy as hell by my standards. Same here today as far as I could tell. But at night Rio (and probably Sao Paulo to a lesser extent, though I think it was more pleasant than Rio) was generally wet and still muggy. Here it feels like a really good summer night in London, except maybe slightly warmer.

So yeah, enough of that semi-poetic bilge. No doubt I'll get mugged on the way home as a lesson not to judge too soon. :-)

I would say that while I might have been predisposed to like it more here, the customs experience (even though the people themselves were OK, as they were at the generally nicer Brazilian customs check) and the crap finding the hotel really riled me up, so the fact that I'm liking it now may suggest the place just does suit me better.

I fully expect to be hating it tomorrow now I've said all this.

When I first left the hotel after checking in I met a woman, who probably lives in the building as a proper resident, by the lift. We said hello - it's hardly a wild exchange, but to a Brit it's a bit odd - and she realised I was English and spoke to me a bit in English. It was a bit awkward as she wasn't totally intelligible, but she did warn me to be careful at night. I asked if she meant everywhere in the city or specifically round the hotel but she didn't seem to pick up on it. I was tempted to clarify in Spanish but I figured that would be a bit insulting. Besides, the last thing I need is someone putting the wind up me about this place as well.