Flying to Santiago Chile

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JFK to Santiago

The second leg of our flight to Santiago, Chile departed JFK at 9 PM.  Once airborn, total flight time was 10 hours and 10 minutes.  The plane was a Boeing 767 operated by LATAM Airlines, a OneWorld alliance airline.  We had economy seats and had selected two seats in the second section.  The configuration was two seats on each side with three in the middle.  When we had selected our seats at check-in, there had been plenty of open seating in the middle, so we figured we'd be able to recline once we were airborne.   Those seats had filled up quickly but I was fortunate to have the flight attendant reseat me in a row to myself, so that I could lie flat and get some sleep on the long flight.

There were two meals served during the flight.  Dinner choices included a pasta dish and BBQ chicken with rice.   I slept through that meal but my husband had the chicken.  Breakfast was a choice of ham and cheese sandwich or eggs.  We both had the sandwich.


Arriving in Santiago

Once we arrived in Chile the first thing we needed to do was check in with a Princess Cruises representative, who gave us a sticker which we'd need for transfer to the pier.  Then we needed to clear immigration.  We hadn't been given any form, so we hoped that we just needed our passports.  Passports were all we needed to get through customs.  They stamp your passport and another slip of paper.   We thought they would collect that along the way, but they did not. Make sure you don't lose that paper because you'll need it on your cruise ship.

After clearing immigration, we headed to pickup our luggage.  We had checked two bags, a regular size suitcase and a soft-sided roller bag.  Our suitcase was the only bag still on the carousel by the time we got there.  We asked a LATAM agent if there were more bags, but there weren't any more.  We told them we were missing one bag and they said to wait about 10 minutes while they checked.  We looked at various piles of suitcases that were standing around as well as the other carousels, but didn't find our bag.   After 15 minutes or so, we went to the counter and filed a missing luggage claim.  We showed them
our itinerary and gave them necessary information including the description of the bag, the claim

check number, contact information, and our ship name.  We also informed Princess Cruises local representative.

Heading to Valparaiso

Crown Princess was actually embarking from Valparaiso which is 1.5 hours away.  We dropped off our luggage which would be sent via truck.  We kept our backpack and canvas bag, filled with cameras, medicines, and other personal items we wouldn't check, and got on a bus for the trip. It was a scenic trip.  We made one stop for restrooms and refreshments, if desired.

We'll describe the check-in process in another post.


Related Albums:

JFK to SCL
Transfer to Valparaiso

Note:  we will be adding to these albums as we continue our journey.

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Panagia Tourliani Monastery

Leaving the splashing waters of the Aegean Sea behind we boarded  our motor-coach for the ride between Kalafati Beach and the charming village of Ano Mera at the center of the island, home to the lovely ...

Panagia Tourliani Monastery

Originally built in 1542 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this monastery was our next stop. It has impressive architecture, whitewashed exterior and colored dome which have long charmed visitors from around the world. As we walked from our motor-coach, we could only see the bell tower rising to the sky.   Even when we got closer, the bell tower and arches above the entrance still dominated the scene.

Inside the Monastery

Making our way inside the monastery church, we light a small candle, getting the flame from one that was already burning.   This gesture is a way of presenting your petitions to God.

The church is only large enough for one or two small groups to enter at a time.   The cruise line  made special arrangements for us to be able to visit.   It is obvious that some restoration is in progress as evidenced  by areas that were covered in plastic sheets and blocked by wooden barriers.   Consequently it was more difficult to navigate through the small church, necessitating a horseshoe shaped traffic flow in one direction.  Perhaps that was actually a blessing as it controlled our movements, making sure that the exquisite artwork was not overlooked.

In the interior of the church, we can see an impressive wooden iconostasis (altar screen) made in 1775 by Florentine artists.  The screen is decorated with green, red and golden flowers.

There are icons of apostles and saints on the iconostasis as well as scenes from the New Testament.  The hanging incense holders are decorated with silver dragons having red eggs in their mouth, which show the Eastern influence.

Once again, words cannot adequately describe the beauty before us in this tiny little church within the monastery.   We have shared several of our images on our Facebook Fan Page in the Panagia Tourliani Monastery Album.

Following our visit to the church, we continued our tour of the exterior grounds of the monastery, ending up in the town square where shops and busy cafes were found.  

We walked through the farmer's market en route to the motor-coach.   The small parking area was completely filled this Sunday morning with cars and motor-coaches.   In fact, several motor-coaches were lined up in a row.  Traffic was coming from all directions and the drivers of the cars didn't want to wait for us to get out of their way and tried to figure out how to get around us.   Our driver certainly earned his wages navigating through this very crowded parking area.  We all cheered for the driver when he was out of the snarled traffic.

We will continue our virtual Mykonos journey in another post.   Until then, visit our Facebook page to look at some of the pictures of our Mediterranean adventure thus far.

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook Albums.




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Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat