Santiago - Happy Valentine's Day

We spent a lazy morning in bed and enjoyed our breakfast off the lobby of the hotel. It is a bright airy room. Apparently the hotel is popular with Americans, as we sat near three American couples during breakfast. 

As we began the tour, Claudio shared with us lots of information about the country and city. Such as, Santiago is located in central Chile, which is well known for agriculture and exporting fruits like blueberries.

It was surprising to find out that there are 30 different mayors in the city, one for each region. This system seems to work well and there is healthy competition amongst the leaders to provide excellent services and keep their respective areas clean. 

Chile began the fight for independence in 1810 and fought for 8 years against Spain. They opened buildings like the fine arts museum and parks to commemorate their 100 years of independence in 1910.

Providencia area of the city was developed in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The main avenue is over 35 km long. It has private universities and clinics in this area. 

We drove first to the Immaculate Conception statue and took a gondola ride to the top. There was a great view of the city with a population of 7 million people out of the 17 million in Chile. The view was not clear due to nearby forest fires. Currently it is the dry season, the rainy season is on May to Aug.

The whole area we visited is a park and we saw people hiking, biking, jogging and skateboarding along the hillside paths. There was even a beautiful pool 1/2 way up the hill. 

We had a great view of the tallest building in SA. It is 64 stories high and has offices, a shopping centre and observation decks. 

December 8th is the feast day of the Immaculate Conception and thousands of people make a pilgrimage each year on this day and walk up to the top. Some people even finish the climb on their knees! 

At the top we saw a life sized cresh that was built in the ‘90s by Chilean artists with trees from Chile. From there we climbed the remaining stairs to the statue. The platform is 8m high and the statue is 14m tall. The Virgin Mary statue was built in Paris in 1908 then disassembled, shipped here, carried to the top, and reassembled. It was surprising to discover a small chapel inside. 

Also at the top we explore a small stone church with beautiful carvings on the interior walls. Outside on the path there were beautiful crosses painted by different artists. 

Our visit to the site was early in the day, so still quiet and relatively cool. 

As we drove toward the city centre for the rest of the tour as Claudio shared with us more about the area. 

He explained that the Providence Church clock tower was rebuilt after the 8.8 earthquake in 2010. Also, in 1960 they experienced the greatest earthquake ever, with a 9.5. The country dates back to the 1500’s, but few buildings have survived prior to 1800 due to the daily earthquakes and 3,000 volcanos in the country. 

We drove by Baquedano Square, which the site of celebrations in the city. E.N.D. had been the site of military rule but is now a cultural centre. Santa Lucia was built in 1908. The San Francisco church dates back to the 1580s. 

The last places we drove by were the Armed Forces base and the Ministry of Defence. Nearby there was a massive 200 kilo, 18m x 12 m Chilean flag, the largest of its kind, that commemorated 200 years of independence.  

We were dropped across the street began walking for the next 60-90 min. We started at the Presidential Palace and were able to get a close look at the entrance. It is guarded by a special force that is part of the police. The area was surrounded by 14 Chilean flags to represent the 14/15 regions of the county; the last region is the city of Santiago.  

The building was originally the mint and was built from 1786-1805. It became a government building in the 1840s. Was the residence of the presidents until the 1960s and the officer the president. There is no longer an official presidential residence. 

The flag over the entrance is the Chilean flag with the crest of the president in the centre. The colour on the flag each represent something - red for the blood of the people, blue for the sky, white for independence and the star for unity. There are some monuments of some of the former presidents surrounding the square. 

From there, we went to an area where the street has been closed to automobiles. On one side of the corner there are buildings in the traditional belle epoch style and on the other corner, there were new modern style buildings. 

We strolled along the street amongst the art installation on the street and overhead. It was very well done and was being thoroughly enjoyed by business people and tourists.

We entered the portico of the PreColumbian Art Museum or Museo Chileno de Arte Pecolombino and were able to enjoy a free string concert by some very talented students. Claudio advised that this is a daily occurrence. 

There was a beautiful square outside the museum that had the Supreme Court on one side and the old Congress building on the other side. After the coup d’état, the congress moved to another city. 

Beside the old congress building there was a statue of the Virgin Mary. The monument commemorates the death of 2,000 people in a fire at a Church during an immaculate conception ceremony on Dec 18th in 1981. 

From there we walked to the Metropolitan Cathedral. In the square there was a monument for the indigenous people. The face is not completely finished so that it is generic enough to represent many different nationalities and the shape of the mouth represented the lack of voice that the people have and the seeds that were covered to show the lack of growth due modern culture (or something along those lines). 

Across the plaza from us was a beautiful French style building that was the post office, beside it was a Spanish style building that used to be the court house and jail (convicted criminals were walked across the street and hung in this square) and beside it was an Italian style building. Inside the Spanish style building is a free natural history museum that we should go check out in our free time. There is one building in the square that is different from the rest. A palace was destroyed to build this all glass modern building.

We went inside the Cathedral with Claudio. There was a mass taking place, but we were able to walk up and down the side aisles. It was stunning! The ceilings were decorated with frescos, the floors were a beautiful black and white patterned tiles, the pillars and statues were made of marble and wood. There were domed styled openings to allow in the natural light throughout the building, along with the light colours, it gave a sens of grand openness and beauty. 

The small chapel at the back of the Cathedral, Parroquia el Sagrario Rio de Nuestra Senora del Carmen, was decidated to the Virgin Mary. Claudio explained that the people of Latin Americas hold Mary above Jesus becaus when the Spaniard brought Christianity to the people they acknowledged that Pagamama (Mother Earth) was the same as the Virgin Mary which made it easy for them to adopt this new religion. 

Our next stop was to check out the fruit markets outside the Central Market or Mercado Central. The fruit looked so fresh and amazing, and of course was very inexpensive compared to what we are used to. You could purchase an entire kilo of peaches for what we would pay for 2 or 3 nonorganic peaches at home. 

Inside the market is where they sell fresh fish and seafood. This building historically was for selling all meats, fruits and vegetables, but now is only for seafood. We ended out tour here, than enjoyed some of the fresh seafood at el Galedon inside the market.

Bill enjoyed a half bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and I enjoyed a half bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Bill had the swordfish stew and I had the El Galedon soup with lots of fish, mussels, and octopus in every bite. We had so much food that we were not even able to finish it all. 

After lunch we spent an hour touring the Fine Arts Museum. There were statues on the main floor in the central area. There was a photographic exhibit of one artist on one side and a multimedia exhibit by another artist at the other end. 

On the second floor there was a variety of paintings and sculptures from several artists over many different eras. 

On the basement level there was a modern exhibit with the common theme of political unrest or war.

The exhibit was good, but we thought there could have been more done with the space.

We had some down time in the room, then headed back to the restaurant, Republica Independiente del Pisco (CHPE - Chile & Peru). We were told it could be a 90 min wait, but we were taken to the bar and seated after a short wait. Then we were immediately escorted to the covered patio in the back, which was the smoking area. It was not very smoky, so we settled in for some drinks and dinner.

We first ordered two Pisco flights - one floral and one southern. Both were very good! 

We then ordered clam ceviche, strung beef and chicken empanadas with mote pebre, and pil pil sautéed octopus, shrimp and cuttlefish with sopaipillas. For dessert we had Horcon Quemado Reservado 40 Pisco Sours with fruits carpaccio, citrus syrup and Pisco Sour ice cream.

The food and ambiance was excellent and we had a great evening!