Santiago #2

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So... I decided I should write about Santiago again. I'v lived here now for 4 months or so, and I'v been able to see a lot more of the city since my first entry about the city.
Basically the city of Santiago is broken up into several different 'comunas' or districts similar to counties in the US. Each one of these comunas have distinct centers of activities, usually based around a plaza or a main road, In my comuna, called Ñuñoa, there's plaza Ñuñoa which is basically where many of the municipal buildings are. Each 'comuna' also is broken up into different neighborhoods, which usually have small shops for food, and otherthings.
The comuna of Santiago is the geographic center of the city, and the what's called the old city. This is where you'll find the presidencial palace called La Moneda, and many other political structures, as well as the main campuses of the University of Chile, and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). PUC is considered to be the best university in Chile and one of the best in latin america. Also Plaza Italia is located on the far east side of this comuna, and is the center of the city, most buses pass though her, making it an important place to know, it is also the location of the Baquedano station on line one and line five. The metro and buses (buses are called micros) make up Transantiago, which is cheap and fast, the most it will cost is 85-90 cents a ride, with two transfers between busses.
The new city and business district is found in the comuna of Providencia, which is east of the comuna of Santiago. It has many hotels and restaurants including the only rotating restaurant in Chile. The neighborhood of Suecia is located here, it was once a place with many discotecs and bars, but now it is not. The place to go for bars and discotecs in santiago is just north of Plaza Italia on the street Pio Nono. The area is called Bellavista, and during the weekends is packed with people.
On the same side of the river as Bellavista, but further west, is the neighborhood of Patronato. Patronato has a lot of street venders who sell clothes really cheap. Also in Patronato are some Korean restaurants. Just south of Patronato is La Vega, which is the main fruit and vegetable market in santiago. The majority of supermarkets buy there produce from this marked, but charge more. Most comunas have their own markets that change in location and amount of different types of food every week.
Santiago does sit in a hole because it is in between two sets of mountain ranges. This causes, mostly during the winter, to prevent pollution from cars and busses from leaving the city. This creates a lot of smog, but it disappears during the summer time. I didn't notice it when I breathed but, I could see it very clearly, and in many of my photos it's very visible.
Anyway... I'm going to Mendoza Argentina this weekend, so I'll talk about that in my next entry.

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