Santiago,
Chile - October 2008
On arrival in Santiago I was pleased to find a driver holding a card with my name on it. The pleasant feeling disappeared when I discovered that the reception desk at the hotel had tipped off the driver to my arrival and in return received a commission.
The hotel was opposite the Cerro Santa Lucía park, which has lots of paths and stone steps leading around and up to the top of a hill with some great views of the city.
It's only one block to the Bellas Artes metro station, a number of cafes and little places to eat.
Santiago doesn't strike me as a great 'tourist' destination but there are plenty of interesting places to experience if you take the time. My time was interrupted by a trip to Robinson Crusoe Island which was an adventure in itself!
It's a short walk from the hotel to the Museo de Bellas Artes, with a rather interesting statue of of Daedalus and Icarus in front.
In Greek mythology Daedalus and his son Icarus were trapped on the island of Crete (a story in itself) and so Daedalus fashioned wings made from feathers held together with wax for them both. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, as the wax would melt. Unfortunately Icarus ignored his father's words, flying so high that the wax melted and the wings fell apart. Icarus plunged into the sea and drowned.
On the way
to the Museo de Bellas Artes I was stopped by a friendly man and a woman that asked me where I was
from and made polite conversation, before explaining the young woman
was a student and needed money for her studies, and would I help?
Unfortunately tourists everywhere are subject to all sorts of scams.
At
the back of the Museo is the Academia de Bellas Artes, with another
interesting statue - this time of a horse, by Fernando Botero.
Like London, you can't walk around Santiago without finding
statues everywhere.
The Plaza de Armas is the main square in
Santiago. The metropolitan cathedral in the plaza has
suffered from many earthquakes and has be rebuilt several times. The
interior is very impressive.
There's a large pedestrian precinct
just off the plaza with a range of shops and coffee bars. Around the
precinct are a number of coffee bars including Cafe Haiti. In these
bars the young women serving your coffee wear short tight skirts.
These are the least risque of the 'cafe con piernas', coffee with
legs. In the arcades off the main precincts you'll often find bars with
mirrored glass and loud music where the women wear as little as bra and
panties. Despite the rumours only non alcoholic drinks are served
and you can look but not touch!
A cemetery is perhaps not
everyone's idea of a tourist attraction but Santiago's necropolis
rivals Buenos Aires for amazing mausoleums. There is also a memorial to
those that 'disappeared' during the Pinochet regime.
Many of
Chile's famous are buried in the cemetery and there are even guided
tours available. When I entered the cemetery a man with several
schoolgirls approached me and asked me where I was from. I was
reminded of my earlier experience and was wary, but the man was a
guide at the cemetery and kindly gave me a map of the necropolis and
some information on the cemetery, at no charge.
One
morning there was trouble at the hotel. I decided to take a
morning bath instead of a shower, to relax the mind and aching muscles,
but had a shock when a maid came rushing into my room!
Apparently
the plumbing wasn't so good and the water had made it's way down to the
hotel bar below my room. A few more maids and the hotel manager later
and they realised I wasn't intentionally flooding the place and left me
alone.
Walking north from the hotel you pass over the river into
the Barrio Bellavista, a rather run down looking area. Here is the
Cerro San Cristobal hill and municipal park.
Unfortunately the
funicular, an interesting way to ascend the hill, was closed for maintenance, so
I had to take a bus to the top, where there are even more impressive
views of the city than at the Cerro Santa Lucia.
At the top of
the hill is a statue of the Virgin Mary that can be seen from all over
the city, especially at night when the statue is illuminated.
There is also the funky Teleferico, with rather small cable
cars that seem unlikely to carry four people, but they can!
I
was also lucky enough to find some postcards. Until now my
exploration of Santiago had failed to turn up any postcards but the
gift shops had lots at very reasonable prices.
The next day I
took another trip to the Plaza de Armas to post my cards. The
post office is rather fancy, with a small museum covering the history
of mail. They even have a British post box.
There's also a selection of souvenir stamps to buy, including stamps from Easter Island, the next stop on my tour.
A statue of Daedalus and
Icarus outside the Museo de Bellas Artes
The statue outside the Academia de Bellas Artes
An impressive mausoleum in the cemetery. I'd be happy to live in this one!
The Pinochet memorial
Cable Cars at Cerro San Cristobal
The Virgin Mary at the top of Cerro Can Cristobal
