Santiago

On Friday undertook my first my first excursion to Santiago. Thomas the German and I took the 10am bus from Valpo to the terminal in Santiago. After about half an hour of figuring out where we were, we somehow figured out the metro (yes, just as fun as the one in Valpo/Viña) to closer to Centro to meet up with Michael, Thomas's friend from their university in Germany. He served as our guide for the day, for sure a good thing because Thomas and I looked at each other that morning and were both like, ok, we are here, now what do we do? Good travel companions, but they spoke in German a lot and I often had no idea what was going on, it was funny. We began on Cerro San Cristóbal, a huge hill in the middle of the city. It is part terraced patio, part park, including a zoo and huge park at the top. We rode a funicular to the top, it's like an ascensor. In case you can't tell, I love those things. The view would have been spectacular, except for the smog. It is insane. Santiago sits in a bowl, surrounded by mountains, and the smog is trapped there. Lots of dogs at the top too, sunning themselves on the patio.

After a lunch of empanadas in the Centro, we visited the Museo de Artes Visuales, which had a spectacular Valentina Cruz exhibit. The top floor was the Museo Arquelógico de Santiago, which included exhibits of indigenous peoples. Later, we walked around Plaza de Armas, which also contained the Municipal de Chile. It was heavily guarded by carabineros. Close by was the Inglesia de San Francisco, the oldest building in Santiago. Finally, we climbed the cerro Santa Lucía, part natural rock formation, part castle, with lots and lots of stairs, trails, and couples. The view from here was much better, as it was closer to sunset and the smog seemed not as bad. The architecture, arches, spires, and fountains, was beautiful. After eating a real tortilla (sort of omelette) we said our goodbyes to Michael, our guide, and headed back to Valpo after a full day of Santiago.