Where to Find the Best Budget-Friendly Wine Tours in Chile This Spring?

I’d like to share my impressions from my second visit to Chile. This time, I flew in from Colombia, and the journey took about 6 hours. Although it’s much closer than flying from my home country, the flight still felt quite long.

Upon exiting the Chilean airport, I was immediately struck by the freshness of the air. It’s a stark contrast to Mexico and Colombia, which I’ve also visited. The airport itself is a marvel—large, modern, and exuding the vibe of a developed nation. Once on the highway, the road conditions were impeccable, likely among the best in Latin America.

I stayed in the Las Condes area, one of Santiago’s premier districts. Filled with office buildings, shopping malls, and residential areas, it has a more cosmopolitan feel rather than the typical Latin American ambiance.

The Spanish spoken in Chile is truly unique and takes some getting used to, with many dropped sounds. Along with Argentina, it’s one of the countries where Spanish can be particularly challenging to understand, though I personally find Argentine Spanish even more difficult.

Coming from Colombia, I noticed that the cost of living in Chile is significantly higher. My colleague mentioned that it’s comparable to the price levels in the U.S. A meal at a mall can easily set you back around $10 per person, which is indeed not cheap.

I really like a quote from the movie “Good Will Hunting”: “But you never smelled the perfume of the Sistine Chapel? You never stood there and looked up at that ceiling?” I hope everyone gets the chance to experience different cultures and different worlds, as these experiences enrich our lives in ways we can’t always predict.