The Sights of Santiago, Viña del Mar, and Valparaiso

After returning from the south, Sarah and I ventured about locally to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings. One of the first places that we visited was the artesania at the church of Santo Domingo, where we saw a sampling of local artists’ works but which also has cool bonsai and exotic bird exhibits. Another outing took us to the city center where we visited the National Library, the Plaza de Armas – which is where the cathedral is located, and la Moneda – the President’s palace. The Chilean presidency has seen a change of guard, as Michelle Bachelet – the country’s first woman president – recently took office. We also walked around Cerro (hill) Santa Lucia, one of several hill-top, municipal parks. It was from Cerro Santa Lucia that Pedro de Valdivia declared Santiago a settlement of Spain in 1541. We visited the Museum of Fine Arts, with its interesting assortment of mostly modern art that perhaps I am too pragmatic to appreciate. Although, there was a cool wood sculpture exhibit that I liked very much. Finally, we also meandered through Barrio Bellavista, where we saw the former home of famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and then mounted the funicular (a type of uphill train) to Cerro San Cristobal. Atop this hill is an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the city, which is actually visible from various parts of the city. We also took the cable car to various other points on the hill to take in the sights of the smoggy city.

The last few days of Sarah’s time here, we escaped the heat and fled to the coast. My friend Denise’s parents live just north of Viña del Mar in a beautiful apartment overlooking the Pacific. We actually didn’t spend any time on the beach. Instead, we did a lot of wandering, ate a lot of ice cream, and soaked up the cool ocean breezes of this popular vacation destination. We also took a day trip to Valparaiso – Chile’s famous port city. The city is renowned for its layout from sea level to elevated hillsides. “Ascensores” take visitors up these steep hillsides for views of the city and port below. As “proper” tourists, we made pilgrimages up a couple of these hills.

We covered a lot of ground – Sarah and I. We did quite well in enjoying a diversity of landscapes during the time of her stay. To see pictures, go to my Shutterfly website. There is a folder for each city.