Exploring: Santiago, Valpo and La Serena; Day 2
Touring Santiago:
Today is our big walk-around-town day. I was super stoked to do this on the last Sunday of the month because most museums are free and the palace (La Moneda) is open to visitors. Unfortunately, it is also the day of the presidential primaries. To my surprise, this also means that most everything toursitic is closed. After the initial shock wore off, we got back to business. We walked across town, marveled at churches, plazas, ate fish, squeezed through markets, sashayed through hip neighborhoods and climbed the tallest hill in town for a sunset view. A fulfilling, entertaining day built around the right mix of authenticity, contemplation, exertion and elation.
As a parent, I must admit that I struggled with our kids desire to talk (at considerable volume), telling stories of home, singing songs and generally maintaining a bubble of familiarity no matter where we were. Maybe this as a defense mechanism that we use when we are out of our comfort zone? In new places, I tend to try to be quiet, observant and attempt to be invisible and thus it wore on me to be so loud and always projecting outward. I prefer to be a sponge, soaking up the architecture, the sound of the traffic and others' conversations. Clearly the kids were having a good time and that was what was most important. In the end, progress was made (eventually) and I think they got more comfortable feeling the city, rather than distancing themselves from it. Here are the pics.
By chance, we stumbled upon the changing of the palace guards. It was ceremonial and made me feel like an interloper seeing something that I wasn't supposed to. As the troops loaded into the bus, it was cool to see the same guys that were just rigid with attention become 'at ease' and joke with each other, smiling, glad to be going home.
We stepped inside the Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago just as a Sunday mass was letting out. Many Peruvians were in this area and it was interesting to see another culture contrasted against the Chileans I have grown accustomed to.
Mercado Central is strange juxtaposition of a real, live fish market selling to those who cannot afford (or prefer not to shop at) supermarkets against tourists from Chile or beyond dining on expensive seafood meals. The 'inner circle' of the market are a suite of high end restaurants while the outer ring is filled with smaller, dingy, fluorescent-lit mom-and-pop shops that likely sell the same dishes prepared in roughly the same way but just at more affordable prices. We opted to splurge this time and enjoy the ambience of the central pavilion but I swear next time I want to eat at the outer ring (or over at the Vega across the river).
We ate at Donde Augusto's. Tasty, without question. We made a good ~3 hours of our lunch and soaked up the atmosphere (and food) to our hearts' content.
The Santiago Metropolitan Park is huge and offers a great view of the city from its summit. We walked right up a well trodden trail to the summit just in time for a nearly 360 degree view of the city and sunset light projected onto the Andes. We stayed well after darkness fell, stuffed our valuables in socks and underwear, fired up the headlamp and descended back to the city, the metro and bed.
Today is our big walk-around-town day. I was super stoked to do this on the last Sunday of the month because most museums are free and the palace (La Moneda) is open to visitors. Unfortunately, it is also the day of the presidential primaries. To my surprise, this also means that most everything toursitic is closed. After the initial shock wore off, we got back to business. We walked across town, marveled at churches, plazas, ate fish, squeezed through markets, sashayed through hip neighborhoods and climbed the tallest hill in town for a sunset view. A fulfilling, entertaining day built around the right mix of authenticity, contemplation, exertion and elation.
As a parent, I must admit that I struggled with our kids desire to talk (at considerable volume), telling stories of home, singing songs and generally maintaining a bubble of familiarity no matter where we were. Maybe this as a defense mechanism that we use when we are out of our comfort zone? In new places, I tend to try to be quiet, observant and attempt to be invisible and thus it wore on me to be so loud and always projecting outward. I prefer to be a sponge, soaking up the architecture, the sound of the traffic and others' conversations. Clearly the kids were having a good time and that was what was most important. In the end, progress was made (eventually) and I think they got more comfortable feeling the city, rather than distancing themselves from it. Here are the pics.
By chance, we stumbled upon the changing of the palace guards. It was ceremonial and made me feel like an interloper seeing something that I wasn't supposed to. As the troops loaded into the bus, it was cool to see the same guys that were just rigid with attention become 'at ease' and joke with each other, smiling, glad to be going home.
A few views of town as we walked north. Protest and construction. Universidad de Chile.
We stepped inside the Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago just as a Sunday mass was letting out. Many Peruvians were in this area and it was interesting to see another culture contrasted against the Chileans I have grown accustomed to.
Mercado Central is strange juxtaposition of a real, live fish market selling to those who cannot afford (or prefer not to shop at) supermarkets against tourists from Chile or beyond dining on expensive seafood meals. The 'inner circle' of the market are a suite of high end restaurants while the outer ring is filled with smaller, dingy, fluorescent-lit mom-and-pop shops that likely sell the same dishes prepared in roughly the same way but just at more affordable prices. We opted to splurge this time and enjoy the ambience of the central pavilion but I swear next time I want to eat at the outer ring (or over at the Vega across the river).
We ate at Donde Augusto's. Tasty, without question. We made a good ~3 hours of our lunch and soaked up the atmosphere (and food) to our hearts' content.
The Santiago Metropolitan Park is huge and offers a great view of the city from its summit. We walked right up a well trodden trail to the summit just in time for a nearly 360 degree view of the city and sunset light projected onto the Andes. We stayed well after darkness fell, stuffed our valuables in socks and underwear, fired up the headlamp and descended back to the city, the metro and bed.
