A normal sunday in Santiago

We were all a bit sore this morning and it took a while to finally get ready. But this wasn't a problem, there was not really anything on our agenda today.
It was my last day in Chile and we could just wander around Santiago and do things that are not really on top of any tourist's check list.
Matias suggested to go to Quinta Normal where there would be a nice park and a neighbourhood that is more on the poor side but seems to have become sort of a hip place recently. It has a large percentage of immigrants due to lower rents and is suppose to be very diverse.
To be honest it seemd just like a normal neighbourhood to me, not very different to other places. Matias agreed (he had not been here since a long time but was told about the 'cool' vibe, that we couldn't find) and we decided to get a beer and a huge lomit in a German heritage restaurant and then go to the famous park.
The park was better than the neighbourhood and we also got a chance to visit the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, with dinosour skeletons and sceneries of lots of local (to Chile) animals, ranging from Alpacas to Penguins. The 'Highlight' (if you so will) was the skeleton of Sei whale.
Enough culture for one day as we were still suffering from the effects of last night, so that we decided to head back home.
We were both pretty tired, watched a film and arranged a Pickup service (called transVIP - a shared bus that picks people up at their house and brings them to the airport - well priced) to pick me up at 3 am (again one of these stupid times).
It wasn't that easy to book this service, we tried through the website but didn't get a confirmation via email and the tried via phone where they couldn't understand Matias.... but it worked out in the end.
The film was silly and soon it was time to get some sleep.
Even writing this I can't believe my time in Chile is already over. This country is amazing! It may be because of it's crazy geographical contrasts, it may be because it was the first time for me in South America, it may be because of all the great craft beer but it could also very much be because of the people. Not just the random people I met this past month in the different places but also because of Kai and Matias, my friends.
Travelling alone is very nice but it makes the time you spent with someone who know for a long time even more valuable.
Exploring the extreme corners (south and north) of this extreme country together with Kai was amazing. It was a proper adventure down in Torres del Paine national park. Our challenging hikes and the immediate change more than 3300 km further north to the Atacama desert.
The tough schedule (as it is if you are travelling with a friend who is on a three week holiday :-)) was all worth the high density of memories I can carry away from this part of my trip. Thank you Chile and thank you Kai and Matias for making this a great experience. After Nepal, Chile sits on rank two (together with Vietnam) so far.
Let's see what the last two exciting destinations can offer while the last month of my adventure begins...