Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
I was laughing hard when I read the note from my travel agency that they booked the Residencia Offenbacher Hof in Viña del Mar, Chile for me – as Offenbach is a city close to Frankfurt am Main in Germany. In fact a German family went to Chile and opened this hotel here.
Not far away from the capital of Chile, Valparaíso was once an important harbour that has been threatened several times by major fires. After the opening of the Panama canal the harbour usage declined and most goods are now transported to the nearby harbour of San Antonio. The city has been founded in 1544 in an area where the native Changos were once living and it has always been an inspiration for writers and painters – that’s why this city is known around the world.
If the inhabitants of Santiago de Chile need some relexation and want to flee from the smog and bustle of their city, they just get to the nearby city of Viña del Mar. What you get here is a nice beach, lots of hotels, bars and restaurants. And a vivid cultural live with many concerts. Even the Chilean presidents know about this and have their summer residence at the Cerro Castillo.
“Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado,
puras brisas te cruzan también;
y tu campo de flores bordado
es la copia feliz del Edén.”
– National anthem
I always love to see cities from above. That’s why I climb church towers or get to mountains close to the city. In Santiago de Chile I was a bit disappointed because of the smog hanging over the city – there wasn’t much to see. But visiting the Cerro San Cristóbal in the city quarter Bellavista (a good joke) is still a good idea.
The hotel Principado de Asturias is a middle-class hotel in Santiago de Chile, Chile. It is a good place for a first night in a foreign country and it’s only some minutes from here to walk to the city center. The nearest metro station is Baquedano and in front of the hotel there is long stretched green park.
The most important place in Santiago de Chile, the old coin making palace and later on presidential seat of Chile is located at the Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins in the center of the city. It is a beautiful palace which was scene for the CIA-backed military coup d’état on September 11, 1973. Today it is seen as a major event of the Cold War with a symbolic power equal to the Cuban Revolution.
The international airport of Santiago de Chile is the most important airport of Chile. Is named after Arturo Merino Benítez, the first commander of the Chilean air force and the founder of the civil LAN airline. It was opened in 1967 and is an important hub in South America.
Continue reading “Aeropuerto Internacional Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez (SCL)”
I first experienced the airport of Madrid-Barajas “Adolfo Suárez” only as a transit passenger, but this several times. It is the largest airport in Spain, the most important hub of the country and vast in space. You can roam this very modern place for hours, switch via terminals by subway train – but I never found it to be a very welcoming place.
Continue reading “Aeropuerto Madrid-Barajas (MAD)”
One of the longest road trips I ever made. When I was a teenager I went on a canoeing trip on the beautiful river Ardèche in the south of France. We also visited the Pont du Gard and the city of Avignon but my memories were fading. That is why I decided to return to these places and to go down to the Mediterranean Sea with a final stop at Marseille, France.
Continue reading “Down to the Mediterranean Sea”