As fall unfolded in the States, I excitedly boarded a plane to South America. Not only was I escaping the cold, but I was also returning to my favorite continent. And soon enough the autumn foliage gave way to the Chilean sun kissed Andes.
In the previous post, I eluded to the fact that the main reason for me visiting Santiago was because I had two girlfriends residing there. Although I had never met Kyle and Emily before in person, I already considered them to be close friends. I definitely have a blessed life, however the thing I am most grateful for are the extraordinary people that I have had the good fortune to meet along the way, and these ladies were no exception (heads up, I am going to be gushing about their fabulousness for a couple of posts)!
Kyle and her husband, Seba, graciously picked me up at the airport. I was actually more excited to finally meet them, than I was to be in new country. On the way to the hotel, I do not think we took even a second to breath, we were talking that much. Totally love at first sight.
Being a seasoned traveler, I usually plan all of my trips by myself. However, several months before this trip I befriended a travel agent, Erina, on Twitter. When I mentioned this trip to her, she offered to help me plan certain parts of it. I cannot put into words just how impressed I was when I walked into the W Santiago and was treated like a Queen and upgraded to a suite. Not only that, look what was waiting for me when I walked into my room:
I quickly showered and changed and off Kyle and I were to meet Emily for lunch. Again, love at first sight! The three of us chatted away like we had been best friends for our entire lives and I silently thanked the computer gods and goddesses for helping me discover their blogs years ago.
Then Emily had to return to work, so Kyle took me to El Centro Artesanal de Los Dominicos to show me a different side of Santiago. It is handicraft village found in the heart of Las Condes community. You can easily get there via the Metro and I recommend a trip if you are feeling the need to escape the city.
We wandered around for a while gossiping on just about every topic we could think of, though the hot topic of the day was our mutual love for Latin men (Kyle is married to a Chilean and I am of course marrying an Argentine).
While I could have easily spent another couple hours in the village with Kyle, I also wanted to make sure that I gave myself some time to enjoy my hotel. How could I not when it looked like this:
I tore myself away from gazing at the majestic Andes and got ready for my night out on the town. The three of us rendezvoused again, this time at the restaurant La Peluqueria Francesa in the historical barrio Yungay. The decor and food of this place was fabulous, making it the perfect selection by my girlfriends, and not because it is one of those hidden gems that only the locals know about. Halfway through our meal and second bottle of champagne, a man approached our table. At first, we assumed that he was trying to hit on us, but we quickly realized that he had recognized Kyle and Emily from their blogs and simply wanted to introduce himself. About five minutes later Emily noticed a tweet by the guy exclaiming that he had met “Twitter celebrities.” It was definitely a humorous and memorable experience. Oh, the life we bloggers lead!
Way past midnight, we were forced to call it night, because in just a few hours I would actually be playing a celebrity myself.
What a beautiful landscape (and a beautiful lady)! I’m loving your hair this length–perfect, you should keep it like so for your wedding!
Haha I love it. “Haven’t I seen you on Twitter?” Someone please use that line on me.
Trust me when I say, the feeling is mutual!
And that moment of being recognized by someone was so embarrassing! Funny, but embarrassing.
I’m always so impressed with the kindness and generosity of foreign friends. I hope I don’t disappoint them when they visit me! Looks lovely, and how did you get such a cute outfit?
i love it when i meet friends abroad. you were staying in a nice hotel
Glad I’ve “met” Kyle through you!
I’ve been so fortunate to meet great folks through Twitter in person so far and know that the trend will continue 🙂
Great photos Andi, Id kill to stay at the W although I have a feeling I`d be a bit too underdressed right now.
What a wonderous life you lead! And I love the brown boots!
Girl, you are such a fashionista! You look fab in your photos… How do you do it!!?! So happy to have found your blog, am catching up on all the back posts. 🙂
Juan Valdez!!!!!! Soon i can Have It non stop for 2 weeks! 🙂
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I LOVE this!! Isn’t it amazing what kindred spirits we can find in this crazy blogging world? I love it!!!
Andi and the Andes 🙂 Must have been great spending time with Kyle and Emily! That village in La Condes sounds like the perfect place to get lost for a couple hours. Can’t wait to read more about this trip!
Aww you got treated like a QUEEN, LOVE IT!!!
I really like the pictures, i love the painting of the womens face it is BEAUTIFUL & is that a black apple in the other picture?
Love Love Love! First of all, I love fruit way too much and loved the pic of the fruit in your room (hehe weird I know); second, how cool you guys were recognized! Maybe if I close my eyes and wish real hard one day I’ll be a blog celebrity too!! hehe. Lastly, I can’t wait to read the rest of this series and I too have connected with Kyle thanks to you! Lovely ladies of the blogging world! 🙂
Lvining vicariously through your blog. Glad your trip is going so well! Que tenga buen tiempo! Animase! ( : Ciao
Absolutely beautiful pics! Miss ya Sunshine 🙂
Beautiful photos of Santiago! and the W hotel looks amazing!!!!!
Santiago is now added to my must-see list! Looks like you had a beautiful time. I’m in love with the second picture…it’s almost Grecian looking!
wow what the hell am I doing in the US is what I think when I look at those pictures!
You are so famous!
I’m so excited to read about this trip. I can’t wait to learn more, especially about Easter Island!
Wow, what an amazing trip!
Congrats! Good luck with planning the wedding. I did it long distance too. 1441 miles away, it worked our perfectly!
I am so very very glad we “met” online and even more glad that we finally got to meet in person – love at first sight for sure. I am still a little bitter that I had to go back to work while you two were out exploring, but I think we made up for last time during our ridiculously long dinner.
It’s still the only time I’ve been recognized so far, so I guess I’m not that much of a Twitter celeb quite yet, haha.
Wow, those are some fabulous hotels! It pays to be an influential blogger and all around nice person 🙂 Glad you had fun in Santiago. South America is also my favorite continent!
I’m always amazed at some of the contacts that can be made through the internet and how you can feel that you already know a person in real life!
Santiago is a beautiful city and that view from the W hotel looks incredible!
Sounds like quite an adventure!
FABULOUS POST!!!!!!
wow, online is such a great networking community. You meet wonderful people and that’s something special. I’m glad you had a great suite and great time. Nice photos!
sweet Andi 🙂
That is truly a wonderful post.
Great photos Andi. I agree with Sarah and Mark. It never ceases to amaze me the contacts and friendships that can be made online and how it translates when you actually meet them for the first time. Here is to hoping we can meet someday!
Cheers
Wow, now these are pics!
Que bellisima!
Awesome post!!! 🙂
You rock my world!
No doubt about it, you’re the coolest chic ever!
Quite a beautiful website!
I want to permanently live inside your luggage!
Great blog! I am loving it!!! 🙂
Just amazing, you rock girl!
Oh my goodness! An amazing post!!!
very nice post, i definitely love this website, keep on it 🙂
I’m dying to get to Chile now!!!
Hey very nice blog!! Beautiful .. Amazing .. 🙂
Great photos of Santiago. Love the modern architecture of that city!
Thanks so much! Yes, it’s a gorgeous city!!!
Beautiful place I have been there too!
Wonderful!!! I hope you and I can both go back one day. 🙂