The bus station where we arrived from Valparaiso is right on a metro station for Line #1, which fortuitously was the same line we needed to be on get to our hostel. Even though it was 15 stops away the journey was quite quick - and cheap. And although it seemed like a very new metro line - the line runs on rubber tyres so it is very quiet - it is in fact nearly 40 years old.
Having looked up the location of our hostel on Google maps a few days ago, (doesn't street view make life easy!) finding the hostel was a piece of cake. After checking in and dumping our gear in our tiny room (I think the double bed was custom made to fit) we set off on a walk to follow the river into the centre of the city. Not that it is much of a river - more a bit of a stream that has been funnelled to one side of a large concrete channel. Still it has a park running along the side we were walking so on such a sunny day it was mroe pleasant that just walking along the busy road.
Our intention was to head for Plaza de Armas but we took the wrong street when we reached the large roundabout at Italian Plaza and ended up walking past the Catholic University. Which was fortunate because we ended up having a nice afternoon tea in their coffee shop. Almost opposite the coffee shop was Santa Lucia Hill, the remains of a five million year old volcano now adorned with facades and fountains, which offered the opportunity of a view of the city. Although this meant climbing a lot of steps - the hill is 69 metres higher than the surrounding streets - it was refreshing to see how easy this is when you are not at altitude.
To save wear on my knees we took the lift down most of the way before continuing our walk to the Plaza de Armas. It was getting late in the day by now and it seemed like a lot of office workers were starting to head home for the day. The Plaza itself was still a hive of bustle and activity with some buskers and street performers in action.
After taking in the atmosphere for a while we set off along a slightly different route back to the hostel. We felt well and truly ready for dinner by the time we reached there so we sought some advice on nearby eateries and set off. The recommended Chinese restaurant was closed,surprisingly, but wandering a little further found us a nice little place, with an English speaking waiter, that served our needs admirably - the gelato was particularly yummy.
Later, after showering in the world's smallest shower recess (I accidently tuned off the water about four times when turning around!) it was off to the land of nod in a double bed where even my feet hung over the end!
The next morning we took the Metro to the Museo de la Memoria, which covered the difficult years under the military dictatorship of General Pinochet. There was an audio tour available in English, and some of the video clips also had English subtitles, so even gringos like us could still learn much from the displays. So much so in fact that it was well after 1:00pm before we finished.
Our plans for the rest of the day were to see the markets and catch the funicular up San Cristobal's Hill. Eschewing the easy option of catching the metro we opted to walk back towards Plaza de Armas, procuring a light lunch from a supermarket along the way. We found both the Central and the Fruit and Vegetable markets without any trouble, though the former were not really as interesting as we had hoped. At the latter Laura managed to find some vegetables for dinner and a very nice fruit salad.
The walk on to the funicular seemed a bit longer than we had imagined and I at least was starting to feel a bit leg weary by the time we reached it. I had been looking forward to the view of Santiago and the Andes from the top but I was rather disappointed. It would seem that the proximity of the Andes to the east and a smaller coastal range to the west form a natural barrier to the city's smog being easily dispersed. Consequently there was a very distinct brown haze over the city, so much so that even the view of the Andes was mostly obscured, making the hoped for photo opportunity a real fizzer.
After catching the funicular back down we continued the theme of the day and hoofed it back to our lodgings - though my knees were really starting to feel it after three days of a lot of city walking and I struggled to keep up with Laura.
After being able to put my feet up for a while I ventured out again to get some dinner while Laura dined on those yucky vegetables she had purchased earlier. The Chinese restaurant was open tonight - not that you would know it from the crowd of diners which, including me, numbered one. Not sure of the last time I ate in a Chinese restaurant that didn't have Chinese staff, but the food was OK so I can't complain.
Later, for the evening ablutions, I opted to use the shower in the shared bathroom rather than the miniature version in our ensuite. We also arranged an airport transfer for tomorrow rather than the cheaper option of the metro back to the bus station and a bus from there.
For the final day of our trip, the final day on the ground anyway, we ambled in to the Museum of Contemporary Art in the mistaken belief that it included a section on photography. However, it did have a very nice display of lithographs depicting scenes in Valparaiso. We worked out that there was a photographic exhibition down at the Catholic University, so going there gave us the excuse of having another coffee & cake break at their cafe. The photo exhibition itself was not very big but it was at least interesting with its focus on photo journalism stories.
And that about wrapped it up for our Santiago sightseeing. It was then just a matter of one last walk back to our hostel - stopping at a nice looking bakery we had spotted earlier to get rid of the last of our Chilean currency.
Our airport transfer was super efficient and had us at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our last of nine internal flights on this trip was away on time for our return to Buenos Aires, where it had all begun almost five weeks ago.
Having looked up the location of our hostel on Google maps a few days ago, (doesn't street view make life easy!) finding the hostel was a piece of cake. After checking in and dumping our gear in our tiny room (I think the double bed was custom made to fit) we set off on a walk to follow the river into the centre of the city. Not that it is much of a river - more a bit of a stream that has been funnelled to one side of a large concrete channel. Still it has a park running along the side we were walking so on such a sunny day it was mroe pleasant that just walking along the busy road.
 |
| One of the facades on Santa Lucia |
To save wear on my knees we took the lift down most of the way before continuing our walk to the Plaza de Armas. It was getting late in the day by now and it seemed like a lot of office workers were starting to head home for the day. The Plaza itself was still a hive of bustle and activity with some buskers and street performers in action.
After taking in the atmosphere for a while we set off along a slightly different route back to the hostel. We felt well and truly ready for dinner by the time we reached there so we sought some advice on nearby eateries and set off. The recommended Chinese restaurant was closed,surprisingly, but wandering a little further found us a nice little place, with an English speaking waiter, that served our needs admirably - the gelato was particularly yummy.
Later, after showering in the world's smallest shower recess (I accidently tuned off the water about four times when turning around!) it was off to the land of nod in a double bed where even my feet hung over the end!
The next morning we took the Metro to the Museo de la Memoria, which covered the difficult years under the military dictatorship of General Pinochet. There was an audio tour available in English, and some of the video clips also had English subtitles, so even gringos like us could still learn much from the displays. So much so in fact that it was well after 1:00pm before we finished.
Our plans for the rest of the day were to see the markets and catch the funicular up San Cristobal's Hill. Eschewing the easy option of catching the metro we opted to walk back towards Plaza de Armas, procuring a light lunch from a supermarket along the way. We found both the Central and the Fruit and Vegetable markets without any trouble, though the former were not really as interesting as we had hoped. At the latter Laura managed to find some vegetables for dinner and a very nice fruit salad.
 |
| The smog obscured Andes from San Cristobel's Hill |
After catching the funicular back down we continued the theme of the day and hoofed it back to our lodgings - though my knees were really starting to feel it after three days of a lot of city walking and I struggled to keep up with Laura.
After being able to put my feet up for a while I ventured out again to get some dinner while Laura dined on those yucky vegetables she had purchased earlier. The Chinese restaurant was open tonight - not that you would know it from the crowd of diners which, including me, numbered one. Not sure of the last time I ate in a Chinese restaurant that didn't have Chinese staff, but the food was OK so I can't complain.
Later, for the evening ablutions, I opted to use the shower in the shared bathroom rather than the miniature version in our ensuite. We also arranged an airport transfer for tomorrow rather than the cheaper option of the metro back to the bus station and a bus from there.
For the final day of our trip, the final day on the ground anyway, we ambled in to the Museum of Contemporary Art in the mistaken belief that it included a section on photography. However, it did have a very nice display of lithographs depicting scenes in Valparaiso. We worked out that there was a photographic exhibition down at the Catholic University, so going there gave us the excuse of having another coffee & cake break at their cafe. The photo exhibition itself was not very big but it was at least interesting with its focus on photo journalism stories.
And that about wrapped it up for our Santiago sightseeing. It was then just a matter of one last walk back to our hostel - stopping at a nice looking bakery we had spotted earlier to get rid of the last of our Chilean currency.
Our airport transfer was super efficient and had us at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our last of nine internal flights on this trip was away on time for our return to Buenos Aires, where it had all begun almost five weeks ago.
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