Santiago

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We drove from Valparaiso back to the airport in Santiago. Our Santiago landlord had arranged a taxie for us and it was nice seeing the driver holding a card with our name on it. We knew we liked Santago before getting out of the taxie. Our studio is located in the Bella's Arts neighborhood, the streets and sidewalks are clean, lots of green space and views of the Andes. We are only half a block from the metro station, one block from the Art Museo and restaurants, cafes and a grocery store right outside our door.

We rented bikes one day, the city has lots of bike paths so you can ride in the city safely. We rode up to the San Cristobal Hill which was steep and then down and around the City. The park is lush and was once the strategic defense point for conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. We rented bikes at La Bicicleta Verde, they are located at the corner of Loreto and Bellavista, just across the river from Bellas Arts.

We visted the Los Dominisos Artisan Market, we took the Metro to the Los Dominicos Metro stop and walked a few blocks to the market. It is near the church which is easy to see. The metro is great, clean, safe and trains come every 5 minutes. You pay one price no matter how far you travel. The market had high quality items for sale by real artist and you can watch them working. We bought a few items here.

We enjoy museums and visited the Muser De Arte Contemooraneo, Museum, museo Bellas Artes, Museo Precolombino, La Chascona (Pablo Neruda's Santiago House). The Precolombino museo is worth a visit to learn about pre-Hispanic America. A exhibit called Chile before Chile examines the indigenous peoples of Chile, from the earliest fishing groups to the present day. We enjoyed La Chascona, we visited Pablo Nuruda's house in Valparaiso and this house was interesting. We learned about Nurudas's politics in Valparaiso and more about his personal life in Santiago.

Our favorite museum and the one that made us reflect on life the most was the Meseo de la Memorio y los Deeechos Humanos (Museum of Memory and Human Rights). The museum is dedicated to the victims of human rights violations during the regime led by Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990. The idea is if we do not forget we may be able to keep such violations from happening again. The museum is free but you need to pay a few dollars for the English guide. This is an excellent museum and the informat is well presented.

Mark and I like to visit old churches, in Santiago we visited Iglesia y Convento, the oldest surviving building in Santiago. We also visited Iglesia San Austinwas erected in 1625. It was destroyed by a earth in 1647, rebuilt in 1707 and toppled again in 1730, then rebuilt again. Chile suffers from many earthquakes. The Basilica y Museo de la Merced was built in 1566, destroyed by earthquake and rebuilt in 1760.

Santiago has nightlife until five in the morning when bars are required to close. We are not night people but some laud people did keep us awake on Friday and Saturday night.

We rented an apartment in Santiago and took advantage of the kitchen to cook and save some money. We enjoyed Santiago a lot.

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