October 2009

Garret and I have been in a bit of culture shock after our arrival in Chile some days ago.  We have found the country to be both wonderful and expensive, and the capital city is a perfect place to happily go broke while on a South American journey.

Mural in BellaVista Neighborhood, Santiago

Hostal Dominica

We arrived on Tur Bus, and managed to easily negotiate the seamless transfer at the bus station to the Metro.  Luckily we were riding reverse commute into the city in the evening, so space wasn’t an issue.  After getting off on the right stop, we came out and asked a man on a bicycle to point us in the right direction of the street where our hostel, Dominica Hostel.  He was so nice, he insisted on walking with us the six or so blocks to our hostel, and chatted to us the whole time about Chile, Patagonia, and many other things that I couldn´t understand due to his strong Chilean accent.

Mapocho River in Santiago, Chile

This is by far the nicest place we’ve stayed in, and I suppose it should be since it is the most expensive at $45 with shared bathrooms.  But it is modern, clean and cute!  It could keep its place if it was in Manhattan, and it is tastefully decorated with modern and bright furnishings, has WiFi and a wonderful kitchen and TV-game room for guest use.  In fact, we made wonderful use of the kitchen one night with amazing Mexican food.  After stopping at the supermarket and improvising a little, we put out an amazing spread and even the other guests noticed.  One man walking by saw us busily chopping and cooking and commented, “You must be French because of this food spread”.  Though I clarified that we were Californians in need of a Mexican food fix, I took his notice to be a complement!

Museum of Bellas Artes

Central Mercado in Santiago

Iglesia at Plaza de Armas, Santiago

Sculpture in Plaza de Armas

We spent a wonderful couple of days wondering around the city.  For the first time in more than two months we were able to go running!  We are right next to the Metropolitano Parque de Santiago, a wonderful park that feel´s like Central Park except it is very hilly.  We ran to the top for a beautiful view of the city today, then returned for a late breakfast and a self-made walking tour of the city, based on this list of the top 10 sites to see in Santiago.  We walked around beautiful plazas, museums, markets, iglesias, and more parks.  My favourite place was the parks; and we stumbled on one quite accidentally with a beautiful tower to climb and rewarding views.

Presidential Palace

Fresh Local Produce Everywhere

Hidden Park in Central Santiago

Pablo Nerudo had another home in Santiago, which we also visited.  It was just as eccentrically decorated as his home in Valparaiso, except without of course the Pacific Ocean in each of the windows.  In one of his memoirs, he writes of his home:  “In my house, I have put together a collection of small and large toys I can’t live without. The child who doesn’t play is not a child, but the man who doesn’t play has lost forever the child who lived in him and he will certainly miss him. I have also built my house like a toy house and I play in it from morning till night.”

La Chascona Means "Unruly Mane of Hair" and was Named for his Lover Matilde

Exterior of Home

Santiago is in springtime, and what a magical time to visit anywhere.  All the trees are green, flowers blooming, couples strolling through the parks hand in hand until dark (which isn´t until after 8 sometime here in the Southern Hemisphere).  Everyone more or less is on a late European-ish schedule, with an early dinner being one before 10 pm.  We ate at a wonderful Asian place, and were one only two couples dining at 9:30 pm, but it was starting to fill after 10.  Breakfast and lunch are accordingly late.  What a change for me, the early-to-bed, early-to-rise person that I usually am!  I guess I’m sort of just keeping Pacific Time still!

Green, Green Everywhere!

Forestal Park in Santiago

So although I could spend lots of time in Santiago, we had to move on quickly (our wallets are thanking us, as Argentina is much more reasonable).  We crossed the Andes Mountains to Mendoza, Argentina, where we’re taking in the sights the wine country and getting ready to start making our way down into the Lake District, and Patagonia in the next month.  Here’s a few pictures of the bus trip from Santiago to Mendoza.

Garret Gets Ready to Board

Near the Chilean-Argentinian Border

Leaving Chile

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