City Life in Chile

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After a few days in the small city of Pucon, it was back to big city life! We were heading to Santiago, the capitol of Chile. We caught a night bus from Pucon to Santiago, our first non-cama (aka non sleeper bus) since we have been in South America. Let me tell you, the South American bus system has been spoiling us. Sleeping on regular seats was tough, even though we took buses that were way worse than this in Asia. The bus ride went as fine as it coul go and we arrived in Santiago bright and early on Easter weekend. We took the subway to our hostel and decided to set off on the town.

Santiago , is the capital and largest city of Chile and is located in the country's central valley surrounded by the Andes. Although Santiago is the capital, legislative bodies meet in nearby Valparaíso. Approximately two decades of uninterrupted economic growth have transformed Santiago into one of Latin America's most modern metropolitan areas, with extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping malls, and impressive high-rise architecture. The city has some of Latin America's most modern transportation infrastructure, such as the growing Santiago Metro.

First thing we did is take advantage of all the wonderful sidewalk cafes in Santiago. We found a cute little cafe and sat down for the first proper breakfast we had had in a while. I really enjoy the sidewalk cafe culture and that is the one great thing about these Latin American cities being so European: Good coffee and cute sidewalk cafes.

After breakfast, I took the boys on a walking tour of the city. We walked into the city center to Plaza de Armas. Plaza de Armas is a huge square with street artists, cafes, with the centerpiece being the giant Cathedral Metroplitina. It is a giant cathedral that houses the tombs of Chile’s most important Catholic religious leaders. It reminded me so much of the European versions and it was absolutely gorgeous. We spent some time exploring there before heading around the city some more.

We walked to the Palacio de La Moneda (Mint Palace in Spanish), or simply La Moneda. It is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secretariat of the Government. It occupies an entire block in downtown Santiago, in the area known as Civic District. The place is huge and once again reminded me of a classic European structure. All of Santiago reminded me a bit of Madrid with the dramatic buildings, but no really ¨tourist thing¨ to go see.

From there we walked to Santa Lucia park. It reminded me a lot of a central park, located in the middle of a large city. There were fountains and huge structures and tons of people roaming around. We climbed to the top of the park to see the views of the city. Unfortunately, Santiago is super polluted and you can barely see the surrounding Andes mountains.

We wanted to go to some of the many museums in Santiago, but since it was Easter weekend pretty much everything but the churches were closed. Luckily our hostel had a swimming pool and an outside area and it was nice enough to lay by the pool and relax.

Easter Sunday was not too significant for us over here in Latin America. Jeff and I went to church at the Cathedral Metropolitina and it was a beautiful service. The head cardinal of Chile presided and it was standing room only in the church. Lucky for me, Catholic service is the same all over the world so I was able to recite the lines in English and pretty much knew where we were in the service the whole time even though I didn’t understand a word, well except Jesus Christo! The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool since no businesses were open. Santiago was pretty quiet the whole time we were there, but I guess what else did we expect on a holiday weekend?

Monday morning we were off to Valparaiso, the nearby beach town that so many travelers have recommended to us. Valparaíso means Paradise Valley in Spanish and is a major city in Chile and one of that country's most important seaports and an increasingly vital cultural center in the hemisphere's Pacific Southwest. We had heard how bohemian the city was and were really looking forward to spending a couple days there. When we first arrived it wasn’t exactly like we pictured it. The streets were a hustling and bustling mess and we were not quite sure where the charm lay. We checked into our small hostel and decided to explore the hills of the city. The main center of the city lay near the port, but high above on all the different hills lay more charming areas. Valpo is famous for its different hills.

Once we got up to the top of the city, we realized why people liked it so much. It had much more character and there were tons of art shops, coffee shops and little alley ways with wonderful graffiti art. This city had some character! Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often considered to be one of Latin America’s most intriguing urban areas. Nicknamed “The Jewel of the Pacific”, Valparaíso was declared a world heritage site based upon its improvised urban design and unique architecture. The official UNESCO declaration also places exceptional emphasis on Valparaíso’s unique “intangible heritage,” which includes the city’s ethnic heritage as seen through the traditions and lifestyles of Valparaíso’s immigrant communities.

The city center is home to many “ascensores” (funiculars) which take you from the main part of the city up to the different hills. Jeff and I took one of the oldest ascensores in the city and the ride lasted probably ten seconds, but it was well worth avoiding the hike. Yes, I have been avoiding hills ever since that volcano hike! We spent the whole day exploring the hills and walking through little alleys. You can really get lost up there!

We did manage to once again find an amazing food place. We got this one straight out of our Lonely Planet guide book, but it was well worth it. The place was called Casino Royal J Cruz and it was located down a small unmarked alley (usually the type of place I avoid in South America), but we decided to go for it. It only served one thing: chorianna. It is french fries topped with spicy pork, egg and onions. Sounds gross, but it’s not! And this place specialized in it. We walked into to a crazy mess of weird antiques and the strangest restaurant I had ever been in and ordered for three. Since there is only one thing on the menu they only needed to know how many people were eating. Next thing we know there was this huge plate of greasy mess in front of us. It was a yummy heart attack on a plate and I loved it! We recommended the place to everyone who was staying at our hostel.

Since it was a small hostel it was pretty easy to meet people. Anton was there, we met him on our volcano hike, as well as our new British friend Hadyn and a few Aussies girls and Tali from NYC. We had a nice little crew and spent one of our nights there hanging out with Pedro, the crazy Chilean who ran the place. Just in true stereotypical South American fashion, he even brought a drug dealer into the hostel just in case anyone needed anything. It kind of freaked me out so I left the room, but I guess you can’t get more stereotypical South American than that!

We made every attempt to take in the Valparaiso nightlife, but once again being the Tuesday after Easter we didn't really succeed. Plus, I usually have more fun just hanging out with people at the hostel. Jeff, Chris and I went to the store to buy the ingredients to make Pisco Sours, the famous Chilean drink. Pedro said if we bought the stuff he would make them. So we bought Pisco, limes, eggs, and powdered sugar. You combine everything in a blender with some ice and make pisco sours. I know what you are thinking: the eggs are gross, but you just use the egg whites to make the drink frothy. It was yummy and everyone in the hostel really enjoyed it!

So after a few days there, it was time to head back into Argentina. We said goodbye to our new friends (except for Hadyn who was coming to Argentina with us) and caught the all day bus back over the border. We will return to Chile shortly!

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Photos

Street art
Heading up to one of the main hills in town (Cerro Conception)

Comments

[lindsay]

good girl for go to church on Easter Sunday....your mom must be so proud:)

[Courtney Enriquez]

YOU WERE RIGHT
Man that church is beautiful ... did it get stuffy and hot because of all of the candles?!? And this may sound odd.. but chorianna sounds rather delicious to me too :o) Miss you! Court ;o)