Santiago day 2

So the first night of the hostel was a bit rough. Loud dance club across the street that opens at midnight and some less than thoughtful roommates. No details necessary at this time. I've since moved downstairs to a quiet room.
Last night I went to a lovely dinner on a patio with an Irish girl...a vegetarian one at that. And this morning I befriended an Ozzy to check out the Museo de Natural Historicas. It was nice to have buddies to get lost with. The metro (subway) here is really nice and cheap and easy to navigate. We found the museum and it was a funny mix of displays not updated since before the Pinochet era. Complete with plastic figurines of dinosaurs. Other exhibits were brand new. Apparently copper is a huge export here and the copper people fronted the money for an enormous and new exhibit on the wonders and history of copper. They should include the new de Young museum in it...
The rest of the day pretty much involved hanging out at the hostel, meeting people, watching tv, wandering around the neighborhood and reading in a cafe. Nice and relaxing.
As we were flipping between Laguna Beach and the Simpons in Spanish this walking guidebook of a human appeared at the hostel with tidings of Chilean information. It was nuts. He was talking to a guy about a tour to the mountains this weekend. I started inquiring about some things and the next thing you know he is highlighting maps of the Lakes District and writing down the number of nights I should stay in each place and what hostels are the best. It was two days of internet and guidebook research boiled into 15 minutes with this local specialist. He is also planning a day trip for Dave and I when we come back through Santiago - either the coast or hotsprings in the Andes... awesome!
I bought a train ticket for tomorrow night to head south. I'll end up in Temuco after an overnight train ride and then take a bus a short distance to Pucon where the vegetation-tree hugging hostel awaits. The Natural History Museum today made me want to leave the city and see some things like the famous monkey puzzle trees.