“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
Puro, Chile
Cerro San Cristóbal
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.
Hotel Principado de Asturias
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.
La Moneda
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.
Aeropuerto Internacional Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez (SCL)
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)”
Aeropuerto Madrid-Barajas (MAD)
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)”Down to the Mediterranean Sea
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”The Freiburg Bächle
Freiburg im Breisgau is a beautiful town in the south of Germany, very close to the border to France. I stopped here on my way to Marseille and got and returned a rental car here. Freiburg dates back to the year 1008, has about 220.000 inhabitants and is located at the river Dreisam.
Tough traffic
French people admit that going through Paris, France by car is hard work – but it’s not top of the list. Marseille is the worst of all. Located at the Mediterranean coast and with 1.8 million inhabitants a big city you should really think about driving in there – I was pretty exhausted when I finally managed to get my car into an underground car park in the city center.
Palais des Papes
Maybe the most beautiful building in Avignon, France – the palace of the popes. At the beginning of the 14th century Avignon became the seat of the Catholic popes for about 70 years (because Rome, Italy wasn’t secure enough). Therefore a palace vast in size and strongly fortified was built which was home to seven popes and five antipopes.