"A little taste of South America" a Santiago Travel Page by Jefie

I hadn't exactly planned on travelling to South America in 2008; however, when my nephew Kevin became the new 15-year-old heavyweight Canadian karate champion, I quickly realized that I would have to keep the promise I had made to my sister of accompanying him to the Junior Pan-American Games in Santiago de Chile! So after a mad 6 weeks of planning and what seems like hundreds of e-mails from Team Canada, we were finally on our way to South America!

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I have to admit that our first reaction once we got to our hotel and took a look around was "It's a heck of a long flight to be back in downtown Montreal"!! Santiago is a very modern city that is geared towards business rather than tourism. Very few historic buildings have managed to survive the city's growing need for office space, and most have been destroyed and replaced by skyscrapers and high-rise buildings. McDonald's, Starbucks & co. are often easier to find than local restaurants, and although Santiago is beautifully surrounded by the Andes, the smog often makes it impossible to see them, especially in the winter time.

But despite our initial reaction, I have to say that I will forever cherish wonderful memories of my first trip to South America, most of all because I got to spend a wonderful week with my nephew Kevin. We had such a great time together, and we enjoyed every day we spent at the competition and every moment we spent discovering the city. We met plenty of people from Chile but also from all over the Americas, which only left us looking forward to the next competition - and if he keeps on performing like he did in Santiago, I wouldn't be surprised if we were to travel together again next year!!