02/12/2024 Santiago, Chile

Today we would have liked to recover from the trip to Rancagua/Sewell, but since the cleaning lady was coming, we had to get up relatively early. So we took turns, more or less right at the door. She spread out in the apartment and we strolled towards Providencia. So, for this year's new readers, Santiago de Chile itself is a relatively small area within this huge city and surrounded by many other cities. In terms of area and population, they are often much larger than Santiago. All of these satellite cities have their own mayor and city administration. So if there have to be resolutions that affect the greater Santiago de Chile area, then all cities must always agree. So you can imagine that changes only progress very slowly. Providencia is our region where Franziska's apartment is located.

The Lonely Planet says: "The further east of the Centro (Santiago), the finer Santiago's districts become. Providencia, traditionally a district of the upper middle class, is quite poor in sights, but very rich in nightlife options." So we strolled through this part of Santiago de Chile, looking for a bank and a market. Money and food are also very important factors on vacation and even more so in Chile.

Withdrawing money abroad and the associated problems had already concerned us in Berlin. Our friends who had visited Chile just three months ago gave us the latest tips. But then on site everything is different again! The first bank we went to had the VISA symbol on their ATM, but the entire screen was only in Spanish and the attempt ended in "..proces invalida"! In addition, a man from the security service watched us very closely and did not contribute to our sovereignty! Things didn't fare any better for us at the next bank, again a Red Banc. Here we even tried using our new VISA credit card, but even with that we got money and only the note mentioned above. Opposite was a branch of the Santander Bank, “work and banking”! So a small cafeteria with computer workstations, small conference rooms and a banking service in the form of a young woman behind a counter. We got help from her! She showed us a spot on the screen where we had to confirm that we were foreigners. We were then able to withdraw money, but that too was/is fraught with difficulties! You should definitely state that the money will be calculated in local currency and will not be paid out in euros. In addition to the fees, there are also very unfair exchange rate conversions, which can sometimes amount to up to 10% of the total! We discovered today that we had to pay around €8.30 for a withdrawal of around €100! Pretty intense! After researching online, you should find information on your bank's homepage as to which financial institutions it would be free to withdraw from. But I didn't find these information at the DKB!? Not even a way to send a corresponding request!? Hopefully we will learn more soon.

The question about a market was understood by a security guard, but despite a detailed answer, we only ended up back in the supermarket we already knew! Well, what's the point? When we returned, the cleaning service was almost finished. So we changed again and stayed at home. The day passed by writing, reading and planning until we ate with Franziska. We don't need to describe the evening with Pisco and beer anymore!