Santiago or Valparaiso?

Given one day to spend in and around Santiago, there are several options. Given that the day was Saturday, the options were limited as many businesses and shops close down on Saturday afternoon. Though I love living in a big city, I don’t tend to stay in them when I travel. Maybe this is because I’m traveling alone, and feel safer in smaller areas, or because the cities I’ve visited don’t offer experiences I’m interested in. You’ve probably figured out, I didn’t spend the day in Santiago. I did visit a museum on my first stay here, and walked about city centro. This time, thinking that I’d visit vineyards in Argentina, I was drawn back to the Pacific to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Valparaiso is the older of the two cities. Vina del Mar is more upscale and touristy. There are former castles scattered around, making one reminisce of Europe.

Chile is one of the biggest producers of copper in the world, making me think it should be more prosperous than it is. Chile, Argentina and Brazil are said to be the most financially sound of the South American countries. With that said, some physical therapists said that their skill would only pay the equivalent of $6,000 American dollars. That’s not much. House cleaners only make $3,6000 annually.

The exchange rate here is approximately $500 Chilean pesos to $1 American dollar. Some people were trying to divide by 500 to get the conversion. I on the other hand preferred to forget about all these 0’s and double the amount. For example. $10,000 Chilean pesos equals $20 American dollars. Some shops readily accepted American dollars, which did come in handy. Exchanging currency from Chilean to Argentinean is best done at the border. Apparently the Argentines don’t want to be bothered with Chilean money, much like the Croatians didn’t want Bosnian money. Argentina should be much simpler for determining cash equivalents. $1 equals 3 Argentinean pesos.