Blogs from Santiago, Santiago Region, Chile, South America

Another early travel day, well not 4 am early, but still up by 6 so we could make our 11 am flight to Santiago. We did have time for a quick breakfast before we were in the cab at 8. Travel Tip, if your flying to another country out of Buenos Aires, you do need to allow extra time, getting through immigration is not a quick process. We were fortunate as our hotel concierge made sure we had a taxi at 8 so we had plenty of time to get to the airport (the in city airport), immigration and customs. Once through security, immigration and custom we still had 90 minutes before our flight. This is only because we got to the airport earlier. If we would arrived 30 minutes later, we would barely have made ... read more

Wow! I can’t believe that it’s been almost four years since I posted my last blog to share with my beloved Travelblog friends! “What happened to you, Tab”? Yes, what happened to me? Well, first I had an accident in Africa in 2018 and I was forced to cut down my trip. I flew back to Canada for an imminent surgery on my leg. Then the downtime ended when I planned to travel back to Africa again in 2020 to cover Rwanda genocide! Bang! The pandemic hit the world and destroyed our world order. Like many of you, I was restless but powerless to change the world. So, what did I do? Well, I continued to write my experience of traveling around the world and publish them as books. I got inspiration from my aunt, an ... read more

Friday. 03/04022. Santiago. Our main event was a visit to the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (Museum of Memory and Human Rights.) It is mainly a museum about the period leading up to the election of the socialist president Salvador Allende, the subsequent coup d’etat by the fascist general Pinochet and the following 17 years of dictatorship. It included information about Truth and Reconciliation Commissions which were established in countries throughout the world, many more than I realized. The experience was moving and troubling but hopeful since Chile managed to return to a democracy. In the afternoon we returned to the Municipal Sculpture Park that is spread along the riverside for a better and longer look at all the art. For dinner we went to the wonderful Restaurant Peumayén Bellavista for their featured ... read more

Tuesday. Smooth disembarkation from our ship that took us to Antarctica then a bus to the airport. Beautiful day and I had a window seat on the east side of the plane which afforded views of steep snowy mountains, deep valleys, many mountain lakes and towns of the Andes. Santiago. Taxi from the airport to our B&B in the Bella Vista district at the apartment of Christian, our host. The area has a Bohemian atmosphere, low-rise buildings with many many murals, nightclubs, restaurants and an obvious gay presence. It sits at the base of San Cristobal Hill which has a large statue of the Virgin Mary on top, a sculpture that was made in France then shipped to Chile. A funicular runs to the top, but unfortunately it was closed, so we took the bus to ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 3rd February- Santiago - Chile We started our virtual tour today in front of the Palacio de La Mineda (Palace of Mint) The seat of the President Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: It occupies an entire block in the area known as Civic District. We heard how Chile’s armed forces stage a coup d’état on 9/11 1973 against the government of President Allende, the first democratically elected Marxist leader in Latin America. Allende retreated with his supporters to La Moneda, this fortress-like presidential palace which was surrounded by tanks and infantry and bombed by air force jets. Allende survived the aerial attack but then apparently shot himself to death as troops stormed the burning palace, reportedly using an automatic rifle given to him as a gift by Cuban dictator Fidel ... read more