We made it into the metro and I was pleasantly surprised. It's one of the cleanest I've ever been in (if not the cleanest). Certainly more so than ours in D.C. and NYC. It was a great experience and pretty easy to get from Ñuñoa to downtown Santiago. We got off at the Avenida Moneda stop, which is right in the center of Chilean government. As we walked along the street, you could see all the different departments and sectors of government - much like you get in the area around the National Mall in D.C. After we rounded a corner, we saw the massive Chilean flag in the center of a park (think Texas) that was added to celebrate the bicentennial, which was just a few weeks ago. And right in front of that was the Presidential Palace - the equivalent of the White House. Except you can walk up right next to it. Which is pretty neat, but I guess there aren't as many countries out there that hate Chile as hate the US. :)
Just below the Presidential Palace is the cultural museum of Chile, which was really neat. We went in just briefly and looked at a modern art exhibit and some photos celebrating the bicentennial. It seemed like a neat place, though, and very cool that it was underground!
We walked around to the other side of the Presidential Palace after, which was the main entrance. It was a great area, with tons of Chilean flags, and even a bell tower from a church. Apparently during the earthquake the tower collapsed, and from what I could understand the bells were placed here because it was of some importance to Santiago. Oh and the guards also have some pretty sweet uniforms.
We walked a bit farther through the city's financial district, passing the old Legislative Building. During the reign of Pinochet, he moved the legislature to Valparaíso...and that's where it is today. Odd. Hopefully I'll get to see it tomorrow on our excursion there.
From there we made it into the Plaza de Armes, the central square of Santiago that contains some of the first major buildings for the city, including a cathedral, a post office, a municipal office (basically the "mayoral" office), and a museum of the history of Chile. It also includes a really nice square with a fountain, lots of beautiful trees and flowers, and even a time capsule to be opened during the tricentennial celebrations of 2110.
We first made a stop in the cathedral, because I have a minor obsession with old churches. Okay, fine, it's a major obsession. Which is why I adored Rome. This one was also fantastic. Beautiful stained glass, paintings, ceilings, and statues. The exterior of the church was also great, although it was damaged during the earthquake, and so the centerpiece fell off. There are a lot of buildings like that in the city that I noticed as I walked around. Many have cracks or broken pieces. Luckily more didn't get damaged, but that's because the construction here is very earthquake-mindful because they happen pretty frequently.
Our next stop was the museum to get some insights into Chilean history. They had exhibits on the conquistadors, founding fathers of Chile, and things to celebrate the bicentennial as well. One of the key people in Chilean history is Bernardo O'Higgins, a general who like George Washington in the US, led the Chilean people to freedom from Spain. I would have taken pictures of the museum, but they weren't allowed. When we came out of the museum, a parade had started by a band comprised totally of teenage girls. We watched them for a little bit, and then headed out to see some more of Santiago.
We walked through the market close to the river next, where they sell everything from vegetables to seafood. It was neat to see the fish and all everywhere. There were even purple crabs! I wish I could've stopped longer to look more and take pictures, but there were crazy salespeople everywhere trying to get us to buy things. Ricardo was pretty good about walking with purpose so that helped. I stick out as a foreigner pretty easily here - blame the blonde hair and blue eyes. :)
From there we walked up to the Cerro Santa Lucia, one of the two prominent hills in the city. It's a really beautiful place - covered with flowers and trees and buildings. It was on these hills that Santiago was first founded by the Spanish, as it has a nice tactical advantage over the surrounding plains. As such, it leaves a great view of the city to anyone who climbs it. It took a little bit to go up, but thankfully it was quite easy. There are stairs everywhere, and plazas with places to get snacks and drinks, and there was even some mock swordfighting going on. So it was a neat place. And our reward was great views of Santiago and the Andes, although they are a bit hard to see with the smog level. As I said, it's the only thing I dislike about Santiago. But Ricardo tells me that after it rains, the next day it's absolutely beautiful to look out on the city. Guess it wasn't in the cards for me to see that this trip.
We headed back home using the city bus, and had another delicious lunch there. Then I took a nap, haha, because I was still exhausted from the day before. After a little while I headed out and met up with the best friend of a friend of mine in Georgia who lives here in Santiago for dinner. We went to a place called Liguria in the neighborhood known as Providencia. It was a neat place, filled with old pictures and posters, and a sort of "malt shoppe" feel to the place. The menu was filled with cartoons from a Chilean artist, which was neat and gave it some character. I tried some more Chilean cerveza with dinner, a brand called Kuntsmann. Both of the brews I had were quite tasty, and the second - a honey lager - literally tasted of honey. It was really sweet but quite good. For dinner I had a steak, cooked to perfection. I finally figured out that you say you want it "a punto", and that equals medium-rare. Anyways, we had a great dinner, fun conversation about the US and world politics, and an overall enjoyable time. As last night, it was easy to fall asleep tonight after such a long day!
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