Just across the street was the entrance to Santa Lucia Hill, home of Hidalgo Castillo, and a variety of historical landmarks and monuments to points throughout Chilean history. Inside the park and up a few steps you had to register in order to enter. That entailed writing your name and nationality, but created a line to simply enter the park. Once inside the park there was yet another line to enter Castillo Hidalgo which was hosting a Colombian festival of sorts. I took my free lollipop but decided to skip this one with a $2.000 CLP entry fee. (Id rather buy a hot dog)
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Castillo Hidalgo
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Colombian lollipops for all!
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Peaking inside the Colombian heritage festival
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One of Santiagos cant miss attractions: Circular Garden
Climbing higher, but not quite to the top of the overlook atop Cerro Santa Lucia provided some nice elevated hazy views of the city, including San Cristobal Hill, which I visited earlier this morning.
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Left to right: San Cristobal, Gran Torre Santiago (tallest building in Chile and part of the Costanera shopping complex in the distance), Torre Telefonica
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Torre Telefonica and the hotel I wish I had stayed at based on location
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Second tallest building in the southern hemisphere behind Q1 with the Andes just behind it
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Glad I saw the Andes from San Cristobal when I did
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San Cristobal from Santa Lucia
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Torre Entel
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Keep going
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Almost there
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Made it! Along with 25 other people in the space for 10
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I think those are mountains in the background
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Time to head back down to the city
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Just about there, or so I thought
Looking at Google Maps (which are borderline average at best in Chile) it appeared there was a path that led to the south end of the park where I could exit just near OHiggins Avenue. I kept walking down a nice path (downhill) where I became distracted with a few text messages. Ill be the first to admit my Spanish is pretty awful, but I certainly know the difference between sin and de. Well it was pretty sad when I reached the end of the path to a closed gate.
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This looks like it leads me out of the park
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Maybe I should read more closely
At the very least I got to see a bit more of the park and when I eventually made it to the proper exit I got to see the iconic Neptune staircase and fountain.
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Terraza Neptuno
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Neptune
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The iconic entry to the park
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Back at street level
I saw a number of these across the city and if anyone knows the story about them I would be appreciative to hear.
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Dog house with message asking not to destroy or remove
Back on my tour path I proceeded down OHiggins Avenue with pit stops at the National Library and San Francisco Church.
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National Library
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Street nuts
San Francisco Church is recognized as the oldest Colonial-Era construction in Chile. Built in 1622 it has lived through multiple earthquakes undergoing various degrees of destruction. Just next door is the Colonial Museum.
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Iglesia San Fransciso clocktower
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Entrance
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Inside Iglesia San Francisco
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The walls were flanked with Spanish Saints
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And dead Saints?
Along the trail toward La Moneda Palace I came across a replica Moai and a massive photogenic Chilean flag.
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Moai replica from Easter Island
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Chilean flag
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Remember how far Torre Entel used to be this morning?
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Just down the street now
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Lots of pedestrian only walk ways around town
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Another perro del calle
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Metro sign with San Francisco Church in the background
Just before I arrived at La Moneda pedestrians were congregating around a building for what looked like a street performance but was actually the U.S. Embassy. Or was it ?
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U.S. Embassy?
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Excuse me sir: Is this the line for extra passport pages?
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35 stars shy Used from 1795-1818
n.b.; When the flag added stars 14 and 15 it also added two strips (the only time there were not 13 stripes) but this flag used at the fake Embassy has 15 stars and only 13 stripes. That was never a flag.
I may have briefly fallen for it but I knew the location of the real embassy plus that flag was missing a few stars Needless to say there was a film shoot using the Club de la Union building as a fake U.S. Embassy. Anyone have a guess what was being shot?
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Film star?
Eventually I made it to the big Chilean flag and La Moneda Palace (which has a cultural center beneath it). La Moneda, coin in Spanish, was originally opened in 1805 after almost 20 years of construction as a Colonial Mint. Starting in 1845 it began to house high-ranking government seats and eventually became the Presidential residence. The Palace was intentionally bombed during the 1973 Coup by the army but by 1981 had been mostly reconstructed. It is currently just the office of President Bachelet and she lives elsewhere.
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Is that the correct number of stars?
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Street side of La Moneda
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Reflection pool outside La Moneda with the Cultural Center downstairs
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Cultural Center entrance
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La Moneda
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La Moneda with its courtyard
Unfortunately (free) tours are only provided if requested 7+ days out. That excluded me but it was getting a bit late and I still had a few spots to hit before dinner and the somewhat lengthy journey back to the Hyatt for a much needed good nights sleep. Next stop, La Plaza de Armas. A map was not necessary to find your way to the high energy gathering spot for tourists and locals alike. Along the way I passed a few shady spots, but soon enough I was swarmed by street entertainers and sensory overload. The plaza dates to the 16th century when the city was founded and aligned in a grid format around the Plaza de Armas.
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Didnt see this one on Yelp
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Multiple one man bands
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Get your photo on my fake pony!
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Plaza de Armas
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Central Post Office
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Santiago Cathedral
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Tower of Santiago Cathedral
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Inside the Cathedral
The Mapuche were the indigenous people of Chile (including Patagonia) and parts of Argentina who fought the Spanish and eventually retreated to the remote Andes when it become too much. With about 10% of Chileans being Mapuche there is a certain level of pride for their heritage even though they are often at the bottom of most levels of society. Much like a gravestone the Mapuche use a Chemamull carved out of wood. During the Spanish invasion, many were burnt as they were seen as idolatrous. Plaza de Armas pays a tribute to its history with a Mapuche Chemamull statue.
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Mapuche Statue
Just a bit north of the Plaza de Armas is the Central Mercado. I realize there are many noteworthy markets in Santiago, but given my short time in Chile I elected to visit this one. I was rather disappointed. Not a great variety of food and minimal action. Granted visiting at 5:00 pm isnt the ideal time either. Either way I made a quick pass through the market and thought about doing an early dinner there, but decided to head back toward Bellavista to see what all the hype about the evening atmosphere is about.
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Mercado Central
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Chilean Fish Monger
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Dining area
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Not very crowded
Back outside lots of folks were waiting on buses or walking along the river. I decided to snack on an empanada, which was good, but nothing earth shattering.
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Suspended car over the river
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Empanada shopping
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Ham and cheese empanada
I headed back toward the metro to make my way toward Baquedano. Inside was another of multiple McDonalds I saw throughout Chile which only served ice cream.
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Ice Cream only McDonalds
Of course there was a long line to buy a simple piece of paper for the metro and no map in site to plan your journey, good thing I guessed the direction right. The train didnt come for 15 minutes and when it arrived it was packed!
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Metro ticket line
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Orange line train
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So much for personal space
A few kilometers east on the Mapocho river I crossed the Pio Nono bridge again to Bellavista to explore the art scene a bit and find a nice dinner. Pretty exhausted at this point I didnt search all that hard, but decided on one a bit outside of the mega tourist hotspot Patio Bellavista. It was a mix of Peruvian and Chilean food.
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Crossing the Mapocho River again
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Playing chess with yourself doesnt seem as fun
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Street entertainment
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Where tourists go to eat and speak English
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Still a bit early for dinner but I was starving
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Amuse bouche
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Pisco Sour: Peruvian style
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Ceviche Sampler
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Salmon in the middle was the best
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Mid-dining entertainment
Nearing 9:00 I decided it was best to make the somewhat lengthy metro ride and walk back to the Hyatt and plan my day for tomorrow. Originally I had expected it to take both days to accomplish everything I had done today, and never expected to have time to make a day trip to Valparaiso so I didnt pay it much attention when planning. Now with a full day to burn I went into scramble mode to figure out logistics for the trip and return to SCL for my flight home. Normally I would have no problem renting a car and just doing it myself, but knowing I could NOT miss my flight home I decided to play it safe, besides the cost of a rental and lack of Google maps would have made it more of a hassle. I contacted a few potential drivers but none of them responded so I settle on Hyatts suggested guide. Lets just include that in the room cost. Or about 100 hot dogs
In the mean time the hotel provided me my room key after first saying I didnt have a reservation even though I had already formally checked in. Misunderstanding. The room was decent in quality but a bit dated compared to other hotels of its caliber. With plans confirmed for tomorrow, I set a reasonable alarm and got some fantastic sleep.
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Living room looking out the not-so-scenic second floor
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Living room from the other side
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State of the art television
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Bedroom
Buenos Noches.
