We booked with RCL through a travel agent. We booked air through RCL and stayed at their designated hotel, The Grand Hyatt, is Santiago. We flew on American Airlines, flying from Dulles Airport near our Fairfax County home in the late afternoon of Friday, Jan. 30 to Dallas-Ft. Worth to connect to Santiago, Chile. We had good economy seats on both flights. We took Benadryl and slept much of the night to Santiago. Entering the country for the first time, Chile charges a reciprocity tax (which means they charge us because the U.S. government charges them when they come to the U.S. The tax was $131 for U.S. citizens, $132 for Canadians. They make an entry in your passport, so you can reenter with no new charge as long as you have that passport. Entry into Chile went smoothly and there was no problem finding our bus to the hotel, although we were not met by anyone associated with RCL until we reached the bus. Santiago is a beautiful city with many modern areas and numerous parked. Even in high summer, snow capped Andes peaks are clearly visible from the city. The city has small, muddy, rushing rivers lined by parkland and mountain parks with great views. Like most of the World, the recession had hit Chile, and over-extended real estate building and speculation is a big problem. Nevertheless, the shopping malls and impressive and full of shoppers. We went from winter to summer from cold to hot and from the middle of a school year to back to school sales getting underway in Santiago.

The parallels to California are striking. Traveling around, I sometimes thought I was approaching Livermore or Santa Rosa. However, we went up to Portillo near the Argentine border, up above 9000 feet. The mountain valleys have lush farmland along the rivers, but there is no region of pine forest on that trip. This area is more barren than the Sierras or Cascades of California. I'm sure that further south in Chile that is not the case.

The Grand Hyatt is a true 5 star hotel. We knew from trip advisor reviews that we'd wait for a room, since we arrived in the morning. Our wait was unusually long, but we got in around 3:30. They need to set up a smoother process and guide people into city tours or mini-tours in this time period. Our room was beautiful, and the hotel service was great. I enjoyed the fitness center and the pool, but we ate out except for the included breakfasts. We did not ride their excellent subway system, but, because of summer vacation, many local residents were away, and traffic was lighter than normal, so touring the city went well. Read more