Santiago

It was nice to spend some time in Santiago, the capital city of Chile. In the city center there is nice collection of colonial architecture and plazas and mountains of the Andes are never far.

Being surrounded by the mountains, one of the first things that I wanted to do when I arrived was to see the entire city at once so I decided to climb Cerro Santa Lucia, located right in the city center, to see Santiago from above. Apart from the fantastic views, there are some things to see on this cerro, like Castillo Hidalgo or some sculptures spread here and there. It was also a cool break, because that day it was very hot.

The cultural part of my visit started at Plaza de Armas, Santiago’s former city center and one of the biggest concentration points of colonial architecture, like the Cathedral.

After some pictures around, I started a walking tour that made me visit Santiago’s main sights, like el Palacio de la Moneda, the presidential palace of Chile, which was originally built as the Chilean mint, the Bourse building or Salvador Allende’s commemorative statue.

I also walked around some neighborhoods like Barrio Paris-Londres with nice cobbled streets and decorated houses. Iglesia San Francisco (the oldest surviving colonial building), not far from this barrio also deserves a short visit.

A little bit far from the center, but easily reached by metro, there are other interesting buildings like old Mapocho Station (damaged by an earthquake and today a cultural center) and the Central Market. Unfortunately I did not have time to visit any of Santiago’s museums, I will need to come again one day!