The Intercontinental serves a pretty servious breakfast, and we feasted on it. At 8:30 a.m. the group met in the hotel bar for a “testimony” from a woman who had lived through the turmoil that resulted from the military coup which overthrew and assassinated the democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. Military dictator Augusto Pinochet was installed with CIA backing, and Pinochet’s government established a reign of terror that lasted 17 years. Our tour leader had already told us her family’s story, which was very similar. Many in our group found these stories chilling, because there are so many parallels with the current state of politics in the U.S.
Following this talk, we boarded the bus for a short ride to Parque Metropolitano de Santiago. This is one of the world’s largest urban parks, about three times the area of Central Park in New York City. On this Saturday morning it was bustling with people: Runners, Bikers, Mountain Bikers, families on picnics, exercise clubs, etc., etc.
 |
| Chile is all about "The Rules." Lining up for the cable car means standing on your number! |
Our group lined up to ride the cable car, “Teleférico de Santiago.” This 20 minute ride took us to the top of a high hill overlooking the city. The plan was that we would get a panoramic view of Santiago below us, and of the huge statue of the Virgin Mary above us. Instead, we saw grey clouds of fog and smog. Santiago is in a valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains. As in cities such as LA and Denver, the mountains block the wind that would clear out the smog. Air pollution is a major problem here.
At the top, we enjoyed a very refreshing traditional Chilean summer drink, “Mote con Huesillo.” As Wikipedia describes it, “It is a non-alcoholic beverage consisting of a sweet clear nectar like liquid made with dried peaches cooked in sugar, water and cinnamon, and then once cooled mixed with fresh cooked husked wheat.” It may not sound great, but it is quite refreshing and very filling. Mary and I shared one. For one person it is practically a meal. It would have been better on a hot afternoon than on a cool, cloudy morning.
Our return down the hill was via the Funicular de Santiago, which has been a feature here since 1925. It is the only funicular we’ve ever seen on which the passengers must all stand up, there are no seats.
The Funicular dropped us at the extreme south edge of the park, in the Bellavista neighborhood, which our local guide described as “the Bohemian quarter” of the city. As the bus drove us past, it clearly the tourist quarter, as well — short on art and music, long on bars and souvenir shops.
The bus continued on something of a bus tour of the city, with the local guide pointing out places of interest along the way. Santiago is a very new city. There aren’t a lot of old buildings because Santiago has earthquakes — lots of them (more than 8,000 tremors detected each year). Most of them are too small to notice, but once in awhile there is a grande. So something like a 17th century mission church (considered to be the world’s first quake-proof structure) really stands out.
The bus dropped us at the “Palacio de La Moneda” (Palace of Coins), formerly the mint, but now the official administrative offices of the President of Chile. Despite the name “palace,” the president doesn’t live there — it’s only the offices. There is no presidential mansion. The president finds his/her own housing. The current president is a billionaire and still lives in his own mansion. The previous president was a man of lesser means, and lived in an apartment not far from our hotel.
From the Palace we walked several blocks on very nice pedestrian-only streets. (Minneapolis has only one Nicollet Mall, Santiago has five). There were several stops along the way to point out museums, libraries, government buildings, the central bank, etc. We finally ended our walk in Plaza de Armes (Military Plaza) which is the site of the old Spanish fort (now long gone) that first established the city. We only had a few minutes of free time here, but several of us managed to duck into the Cathedral for a few minutes. Mass was in progress, and there were lots of people in the pews, we thought, for a Saturday noon mass.
A few group members elected to remain in this area and to visit one or more of the museums. A few elected to return with the bus to the hotel. Most elected to get on the bus and to be dropped back at “the Bohemian quarter” once again. The majority of this group wanted to visit the home of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet who won the Nobel for Literature in 1971. But more recent research, including some of his own memoirs, indicate that Neruda was also a serial abuser of women who refused to recognize or support at least one illegitimate child. So we decided to take a pass on the house.
Instead, we walked the area, enjoyed a little snack, and then took a walk in the parkway that follows the Rio Mapocho, the muddy river that flows through the entire city of Santiago. Then we caught the Metro and rode to a stop near our hotel. On the way, we strolled through a huge shopping mall, falling in among the throngs of Saturday shoppers. We even made a purchase — a couple bottles of cheap wine to take with us to Easter Island, where it will be much more expensive.
 |
| The Costanera Center Torre 2, better known as Gran Torre Santiago, is the tallest building in Latin America. A short walk from our hotel. |
After resting a bit and the hotel, we prepared for the “Farewell Banquet” as this will be the last evening meal for those not taking the Easter Island extension. The restaurant was in a downtown building, 17 stories up (not the tallest, by far, but pretty well up there), and on a rotating platform so that the view was constantly changing. It was a very nice meal, mostly seafood, with included Pisco Sour and wine, and fruit dessert. Since the rest of the group is with us all day tomorrow, no one is yet saying goodbye.
We returned to the hotel and had a briefing on Easter Island (Rapa Nui, as the natives prefer it to be called) then back to the room to catch up on email and prepare for sleep.
Our return down the hill was via the Funicular de Santiago, which has been a feature here since 1925. It is the only funicular we’ve ever seen on which the passengers must all stand up, there are no seats.
The Funicular dropped us at the extreme south edge of the park, in the Bellavista neighborhood, which our local guide described as “the Bohemian quarter” of the city. As the bus drove us past, it clearly the tourist quarter, as well — short on art and music, long on bars and souvenir shops.
The bus dropped us at the “Palacio de La Moneda” (Palace of Coins), formerly the mint, but now the official administrative offices of the President of Chile. Despite the name “palace,” the president doesn’t live there — it’s only the offices. There is no presidential mansion. The president finds his/her own housing. The current president is a billionaire and still lives in his own mansion. The previous president was a man of lesser means, and lived in an apartment not far from our hotel.
From the Palace we walked several blocks on very nice pedestrian-only streets. (Minneapolis has only one Nicollet Mall, Santiago has five). There were several stops along the way to point out museums, libraries, government buildings, the central bank, etc. We finally ended our walk in Plaza de Armes (Military Plaza) which is the site of the old Spanish fort (now long gone) that first established the city. We only had a few minutes of free time here, but several of us managed to duck into the Cathedral for a few minutes. Mass was in progress, and there were lots of people in the pews, we thought, for a Saturday noon mass.
A few group members elected to remain in this area and to visit one or more of the museums. A few elected to return with the bus to the hotel. Most elected to get on the bus and to be dropped back at “the Bohemian quarter” once again. The majority of this group wanted to visit the home of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet who won the Nobel for Literature in 1971. But more recent research, including some of his own memoirs, indicate that Neruda was also a serial abuser of women who refused to recognize or support at least one illegitimate child. So we decided to take a pass on the house.
Instead, we walked the area, enjoyed a little snack, and then took a walk in the parkway that follows the Rio Mapocho, the muddy river that flows through the entire city of Santiago. Then we caught the Metro and rode to a stop near our hotel. On the way, we strolled through a huge shopping mall, falling in among the throngs of Saturday shoppers. We even made a purchase — a couple bottles of cheap wine to take with us to Easter Island, where it will be much more expensive.
We returned to the hotel and had a briefing on Easter Island (Rapa Nui, as the natives prefer it to be called) then back to the room to catch up on email and prepare for sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment