4. Warm in Chile.

Our final hours in London were largely uneventful apart from a rather nice birthday lunch at a French restaurant just off Oxford Circus. Steak and fries with a home made creme caramel just hit the spot.

We arrived at Heathrow in good time and there were no problems checking in, indeed our bags were checked right through via our connection in Madrid. Obviously we had fingers crossed that they arrive on the same flight as us in Santiago! The first leg of the journey down to the Spanish capital was on time...just as well as the connection time was only 90 minutes. However, we did not need to worry unduly as the Iberia ground crew did a splenid job of ensuring that passengers with connections were bussed quickly and efficiently to the required terminal.

As the second leg of the journey departed Madrid just after midnight, it was a relatively easy task to catch a few hours of sleep. Unfortunately the flight over the Amazon Basin took place partly in the dark and for the remainder was covered in thick cloud so there was no view. We were met on arrival, our transportation to the hotel and onwards to the ship has all been coordinated, and once again, Princess's organization throughout has been faultless.

Thus it seems amazing that in the space of 16 hours or so we have crossed the equator and travelled from the 7C chill of a London midwinter to the 30C heat of a Santigo midsummer.

Once checked in at our hotel and having freshened up and had a spot of lunch, we set out to have a quick look at the nearest shopping centre. You can, dear reader, take heart from the fact that the average Chilean shopping mall contains, all the usual global brand names, the usual assortment of stroppy teenagers "hanging out", the usual harassed mothers spending money like there is no tomorrow on Christmas presents they cannot really afford and the usual grumpy looking Father Christmas sitting in a grotto under a snow machine trying to coax smiles out of frightened toddlers so that Granny can have the perfect photo of her little a darling.

So as to maximise the most of our limited time in the city, we opted to take the ubiquitous city tour later in the afternoon. Although Santiago doesn't have too much going for it in terms of history and architecture, it does have the spectacular backdrop of the Andes mountains. It does also have its poorer and more affluent areas, but based on the evidence we saw, it is also a safe, friendly and extremely clean city. 

Tomorrow morning we take the coach for the two hour drive to Valparaiso where we shall be boarding the Golden Princess.

PS. Sorry about the font change...I have no control over it!