Strolling in Santiago

Had an excellent dinner last night with our friends Kevin and Laura. It was their goodbye dinner as they left late that night, around 10pm, for home back in California. It’s been a lot of fun sharing the experience with another couple.

Today we’re going to take the Hop-on – Hop-off bus and tour the city of Santiago. Great way to see the sights and the city without trying to walk it. Santiago is a very large metropolitan city. The population of Chile is roughly 19.5 million people, the population of Santiago is roughly 5.6 million people or 25% of the country’s total population. Yes, it can be crowded!

And it can be a bit on the warm side. Today the high is forecast to be around 90F with humidity coming I at 37%, a bit muggy. Fortunately, the bus has air conditioning so the ride is pleasant. The HoHo route will take approximately 2hrs to complete depending on traffic. There are nine scheduled stops along the route, we plan to cruise around and see all nine before making our decision where to get off and explore.

To start today’s adventure, we’ll walk to the funicular that goes to the top of San Cristobal hill, included in our HoHo ticket. The hill rises about 300 meters, about 1,000’, above the city and has a zoo, a wine museum, and a statue of the Virgin Mary coming in at 72’ tall. Good thing we don’t have to hike this one, pretty steep!

Once at the top, the views are pretty impressive. The only drawback is the smog and haze. Because Santiago is in a valley, the inversion layer effect holds the smog and haze here most of the day. Very much like Denver or Los Angeles where the mountains block the flow of air to “rinse out” the area.

Been there, done that so on with the bus ride. Back down the funicular and walked 20’ to the bus stop where the bus was waiting. Grabbed a seat on the second deck and settled in for our riding tour of Santiago.

Around 1541, the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia claimed Chile and “Santiago” for Spain. Santiago has served as the country’s capitol ever since. Most describe this metropolitan city as cosmopolitan, vibrant with winding streets of art deco and neo-classical buildings. Mostly true, but as with all big cities, Santiago has upper, middle, and lower class neighborhoods that blend throughout the city. The area of our apartment is known as, ‘Bella Vista” and is one of the Bohemian neighborhoods, or comunas, around the city center. Quite different today than when Pedro Valdivia staked claim to a fertile valley bordered on one side by the Andes mountains.

The city is named after Saint James the Greater, who was the first Apostle to be martyred for his faith. Interesting side note: Saint James the Greater is said to be called “greater” because he was either the first, “James” Apostle or because he was taller than Saint James the Lesser, who was shorter. No one knows for sure.

Legend has it that after Saint James was beheaded by King Harrod, his body was shipped to Santiago and buried here in Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica. Now on with the show…

The bus headed down Santiago’s main street, Alameda del Libertador Bernado O’Higgins. Yep, Irish guy! Named after the son of an Irish-Spanish colonial administrator who served as captain general of Peru and Chile. Apparently Bernado didn’t agree with his father’s employer and decided Chile and Peru should be free nations. Enter the revolution and the liberation of Chile on April 5, 1818.

Keep getting sidetracked. Along this road are several of Santiago’s points of interest, the Cerro Santa Lucia, Plaza de la Constitucion, the Plaza de Armas, the National Library (Donde esta la biblioteca?),and the Palacio de La Moneda (Presidential Palace). We decided to get off the bus and walk to see these sights since they are all within a few blocks of each other.

The Presidential Palace (Palacio de La Moneda) was originally built as the Mint using stones measuring 1 meter in width to withstand the numerous earthquakes in Chile. It was converted into the Presidential Palace and headquarters of the Chilean Government in 1845 by then president Manuel Prieto. It was also the scene of major bombings and air strikes during the 1973 coup d’etat where Socialist president Salvidor Allende was deposed. The building suffered numerous tank and aircraft shellings.

Next was Cerro Santa Lucia. This hill located at the center of Santiago is where the city began its life. The base of this is hill is where city was officially founded in 1541. During its time it has been a fortress and look-out, a cemetery, a park, and a chapel. There is a terraza de Neptune (Neptune’s terrace) with a large fountain, a castle (Hildago Castle) and 65,000 square meters (700,000sq.ft) of park right in the middle of Santiago. Each year this location hosts the Nam Festival featuring traditional Chilean foods.

Plaza de Constitucion is actually the rear courtyard of the Palacio de La Moneda.

The Plaza de Armas, or Plaza of Arms, is the main square in the capitol. This plaza was established in 1541 to commemorate the independence from Spain. It has been used for parties, civic meetings, and even criminal trials (some resulting in hangings). Several municipal buildings surround the square. Such as, the Central Post Office, the National Historical Museum, and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago.

The newest and highest point of interest in Santiago has to be the Grand Torre Costanera. This skyscraper is the tallest building in South America, reaching a height of 980’! It’s an amazing 64 stories tall with 6 basement floors, some 7.5 million square feet of building space, with the largest shopping mall in Latin America and two hotels. Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to go to the Sky Bar Costanera located on the 61^st floor. I hear the views are worth the price of the drinks.

And that wraps up our day tour of Santiago. Full day for sure! Tomorrow is a down day to do laundry and catch up on life with our kids / grandkids. Next stop is Puerto Montt, Chile. Located at the start of the Chilean fjords, this small cruise town will be home for the next 5 days. More to follow…

A few pics around town (and our dinner)