Saturday in Santiago: snow on the Andes
I hate winter everywhere, but especially in Santiago. I won’t put you through the whole rant again, but for anyone who’s new I will leave it at freezing temperatures and no central heating. Add in some dampness and do the math as to why I am an unhappy camper as I sit bundled in my bed looking at my breath every time I exhale.
Then there’s the smog, which is just disgusting. I took this picture with my cell phone, and despite the poor quality you can see the thick brown band of gross. That’s in my lungs – lovely. It’s worse in winter because Santiago is more or less surrounded by mountains, and when the air is cold it settles right down in the valley instead of rising over the mountains to let us all breathe. Pedro de Valdivia, I curse you for founding this city here.
The one bright side, however, is the rain. Now, I don’t like winter, and I don’t particularly like being wet, so this might sound odd. But when it rains, all that smog clears out of the city, and instead of the familiar shortness of breath all of us who live in Santiago enjoy deep breaths of fresh air. It’s a nice change. On top of that, rain in the city means snow on the mountains.
And there isn’t much that’s prettier than the imposing Andes gleaming with fresh snow in the sunlight set off by a brilliant blue background or a sunset. Even if it’s apparently impossible for me to capture a decent picture of them that doesn’t involve telephone lines and random buildings. You’ll just have to come see them for yourself.
Last Saturday, it poured down, so all week we’ve been enjoying the aftermath. The smog’s back by now, unfortunately, but at sunset tonight the view was still pretty incredible.
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Saturday in Santiago
The smog, cold, and lack of central heating remind me of winter in Hong Kong, except there are no pretty mountain views. However, when I lived in Monterrey, Mexico, the weather was the same as in Santiago and we got views of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Oh gosh, winter in Hong Kong doesn’t sound very nice then. I think the only thing that gets me through is the views!
It’s going to be so interesting to see Santiago’s smog because it was so clear (albeit stinking hot) when we were there at the start of our South American travels in March. John just looked at the weather forecast before I opened my blog reader today and said “We’re going from 33 to 13 degrees on Wednesday.” Will be wonderful to see you guys again, though =)
Yeah, you’re in for a bit of a shock it sounds like. June is verrrry different from March. My dad’s wife actually thought that Santiago was a tropical climate for a while because she’d only come to visit in summer until I explained that no, it actually gets down to freezing or below in the winter.
I never really understood the smog problem Santiagos has, until recently. Last december I could not for the sanity of me, understand why my allergies were so out of control. Thank you smog-monster! Someone should present those oxygen-machines. Like the ones they have in Tokyo. Would be a hit from the get go.
“Quien te dio la idea! Quien??” he used to mumel for himself 
My granpa also used to curse Pedro de Valdivia
Sending you warm wishes from a sunny Stockholm!
I think your grandpa and I would get along
The smog doesn’t affect me most days beyond looking gross and thinking about the long-term effects, but on the really bad days it honestly is hard to breath. Ugh.
Rain also means you get to cuddle with your hubby indoors!!!
Gosh I miss the Andes!
That is a very good point!
Oh the beautiful smog of Santiago!!!It is the greatest shame in that city really. I loved going to Santiago in winter time because my hubby and I are snow bunnies and love taking trips to the resorts in Santiago (considering the ski resorts in Southern Chile are not very well “developed” hehe) but I always found it sad when we would drive up the mountains and then suddenly the city would dissappear below us behind the smog. It’s an awful shame because on a clear day it’s the most amazing sight!!!
It’s true, the view of Santiago from the mountains is always impressive, but whether it’s “oh how beautiful” impressive or “oh my god, I can’t believe I breathe that crap” impressive depends on the smog.