Cheers! Our wines recommendation

To be honest I did not know much about wines.. but don´t get disappointed please continue reading! Living in Chile, I learnt to enjoy wines and I was able to get good advice for this post.

You should know that here it is typical when you are invited to a dinner to bring a bottle of wine. In supermarkets, you have plenty of options so if you are not an expert it is difficult to know which wine to buy.

Chile is known for its Carménères, a wine grape variety originally planted in the Médoc region of Bordeux, France and rediscovered in Chile in 1994, very interesting story. You can also find perfect Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noit and Sauvignon Blanc.

Below you can find a list of wines brand that we totally recommend, you can find it in supermarkets or special wines shop:

1) Casa Silva, Los Ligues, Gran Reserva

2) Santa Ema, Reserva

3) Montes Alpha

4) Gran Tarapacá

5) Concha y Toro, Serie Riberas

6) Vino Catalina, Viña Santa Ema

7) Casas del Bosque: It has a delicious Sauvignon Blanc, perfect for this time of the year. The Pinot noir is our favourite.

Cheers!

Haaaaave you met Ted?

 

How I met your mother´s fans will understand this introductory line.. In real life it is not so easy to meet people like Barney and Ted do it in How I met using that simple introductory technique.

One of the main challenges when you moved to other country is to develop your social network. Making friends abroad can be an intimidating experience and sometimes is difficult to know how to start. The sooner you start knowing people, the better and quicker you will start adapting to your new reality. Creating a solid network will help you to understand better the new culture, share experiences (both good and bad), have an emotional support and, of course, have a good time.

Below you can find some tips to meet people:

• Before moving, read information about Santiago in expats web pages or blogs (like Inside Santiago!).
• Check among friends if they know someone living in Santiago that can introduce you: Review facebook and Linkedin.
•  Register in Expat forums. Internations is one of the biggest expat network, there is a Santiago community, which has events almost every month. It is one of the best way to meet people.
• If you are not a native Spanish speaker, start taking Spanish lessons in an Institute with a group of people. Apart from meeting  people, it is critical to start settling in Chile.
• Enrol yourself in a social club. You can find social clubs in our Where to live section.
• Register in a sport activity: gym, runners club, golf, tennis, football, etc… Don´t miss our getting fit: outdoor and indoor mood post!
• If you have kids, invite kids their age over to play – you’ll get to know their parents.
• Become a member of business or professional associations.
• If you met neighbors, invite them for a drink or small party.
• Hang out in pub and bars. For example, California Cantina.
• Voluntary work: Completing voluntary work for charities is a further ideal method of making friends abroad while simultaneously contributing to a good cause. Before, check if your visa allows you to do charity work.
• If you have a baby, you can register into a mommy playgroup (we are planning to dedicate a post to this subject).
• Every two Wednesdays, check our What to do in Santiago section, you will find different activities and also could be a good way to meet people.

What worked for you? Share your experience with us!

Getting fit #2: indoor mood

As soon as I arrived to  Santiago, my first concern was to find the best gym for me to continue my weekly training. I discovered great spots which are very recommendable according to every one needs. So if you are an indoor mood person, find below the best gym  options.

 

Baltus Gym:

This Gym is a sport and social club where you can train yourself and also spend the day. You will find one branch in Vitacura and another in Las Condes neighbourhood.  It´s very exclusive and also expensive, but incredibly well placed and for sure it is included in the top 3 best gyms in Santiago. In it´s web page you will find all activities schedule.

http://www.balthus.cl/

 

Hard Candy gym:

This gym is part of Hard Candy fitness corporate, which is owned by Madonna. It is the only branch in South America , placed in Las Condes neighbourhood, in the middle of Araucano park. Great place to train yourself, and it has a lot of different classes for example to enjoy dancing like Madonna, doing yoga and also pilates. It isn´t as expensive as Baltus, and it has 2 swimming pools, one for training and the other one to relax. Find complete schedule and more information in webpage

http://www.hardcandyfitness.cl

http://www.hardcandyfitness.com/

 

O2 gym:

This spot has 4 branches located in Lo Barnechea, Las Condes, El Golf  and San Carlos de Apoquindo neighbourhood.  It´s a very good choice for specific trainings and it offers a great swimming pool. It also has a spa. Check more in O2 webpage below.

http://www.o2fit.cl

 

Energy gym:

If you choose this gym company, you will find yours according where you live. Also Hard Candy takes part of this company, but as a premium brand. There is one in Vitacura neigbourhood, very well placed. It offers good prices and large variety of classes. For more information please check webpage below.

http://www.energy.cl/

 

Sportlife:

 

This gym company has been opened in Santiago for 20 years. It is one of the biggest with a lot of branches in all over Chile. For sure you will find your own according to where you decide to live or already are living. It has good prices and it offers great different options for your training.

Check your closest and more information in webpage

http://www.sportlife.cl/

 

Smartfit:

This gym company is very new in Santiago, with only 4 spots. It´s a new and simple concept: very low prices, practical spaces and a great and relaxed environment. It´s the perfect equation according to them.

For more information, check webpage

http://www.smartfit.cl/

I hope this information will help you knowing your fitness options in Santiago. Wait for more about getting fit in our next posts!

see you!

Survival fashion tips#1: Just arrived to Santiago

 

If you just arrived to this new city, you will probably feel identified with one of these 2 options:

• you moved to the city with a few luggage or ;
• your things will arrive with the moving company. So….here is the news: This will take a while!

In both cases, you will need to go shopping to survive the first couple of months. Don´t panic! to help you, we will give you some useful tips:

-The easiest, popular and fastest way to shop what you need (or want) in Santiago is in shopping malls. So, here below we give you a list of the most visited malls.

• Parque Arauco. Las Condes
• Alto Las Condes. Las Condes
• Costanera Mall. Providencia
• Portal La Dehesa. La Dehesa

In there, you will find a lot of affordable fashion international brands. Some examples are:

• The GAP
• H&M (only in Costanera)
• Forever 21
• Topshop
• Zara
• Banana Republic

Apart from that, Chile has very important National department stores with great variety of products (from clothes to furniture) good prices and practical shopping experience.

The best well known are:

• Paris
• Falabella
• Ripley

 

At last but not least,we have brands we love that are:

• Rapsodia
• Bimba y Lola
• Jazmin Chebar
• Prune
• Paula Cahen D´anvers
• Etiqueta Negra

Apart from malls, you have some new and beautiful shopping areas, but normally you won´t find the  commercial brands.

About this, we will continue talking in the next posts, but with this information you have your survival fashion  kit ready to go!

Prepared food- No judgement

 

Yesterday we were invited to a dinner in the house of European friends that just arrived to the city.  The dinner was at 20:00 and we decided to make an effort an arrived on time. As the effort was so big, we arrived too early. To kill the time we went for a walk in Piedra Roja (the dinner was in a Condo close to the Laguna). There, I found a store of La Punta and I thought I would recommend this place to them to find good quality prepared food. Immediately after, I had a “positive prejudice” and I said, “they probably won´t buy prepared food… they must cook”. Once I was at the dinner, they mentioned that back in Europe they used to buy delivery and prepared food all the time and here it is difficult to find.

That was the moment that I recommended La Punta. I had already used it for a different occasion, including new year´s eve dinner. It is especially useful at the beginning that you are meeting new people and you don´t have a lot of time to cook (or the skills like in my case).

I recommend the lasaña Camaron Jaiba or Boloñesa. You can also try the roast beef or turkey with different sauces. You don´t even have to think about the dessert, you can buy it there. I recommend suspiro Limeño, Postre 3 leches and Tiramisu.  The “Quiches” are an excellent option for a quick weekend lunch.

You can find La Punta stores in different locations: Chicureo, Lo Barnechea, Las Condes and Vitacura.

Inside Santiago- Nice to meet you!

Where should I live? Which is the most appropriate school for my children? Where should I cut my hair? Which are the best restaurants?

From critical questions to simple ones, our mission is to make the life of expats or future expats in Santiago easier.

We are 3 friends from different countries living in Santiago de Chile, a modern city, down south. We have different professional backgrounds and different expertise areas (Marketing & Communications/ Fashion Designer/ Human Resources and Expat Management) which allow us to complement and learn from each other.

You should know that we are not native English speakers, but we decided to write mainly in English to be able to reach more people.

As foreigners, we have been there, discovering the city. We would like to share our experience and facilitate your integration into this country.

Our goal is that you relax, have fun and enjoy your life in Santiago. Start this journey with us!

Welcome to Inside santiago

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If you would like to share your experience, a tip, your business or be our sponsor, please write to the following email:insidesantiago@gmail.com