Seeing Santiago

We took the day off from skiing yesterday as it was both a weekend and the middle of Chile's winter break. The Hatchers took off for Bariloche leaving us the keys to the house and instructions on how to feed the dogs.

We walked down to a bus stop and took a small bus to Cantagallo, a sort of suburban bus terminal, and from there changed to a bus which took us to the center of downtown.

First we walked around the market area and bought local olives (s0-s0) and then empanadas (nice!). From there we headed to the Plaza de Armas, which is really the heart of the city.



We strolled along the many pedestrian avenues leading off the plaza and south toward and then up Cerro Santa Lucia, a downtown hill full of gardens, fountains, promonotories and secret trails that lead to views of the city.



From there we backtracked a bit to the Palacio de La Moneda, where uniformed sentries guarded the entrance to what was the royal mint and was later an presidential office.

From there we headed underground to take the metro to the end of the line at Escuela Militar and then a bus up to our suburb, near Lo Barnechea. We got groceries in a spiffy supermarket and made it home as the sun set.

Laura has a lot of pictures on her site ... check it out at www.audipat.blogspot.com.

Also note that we likely won't be able to make updates as frequently as we've made them as we now have access to speedy and free Internet. That will likely come to an end as we move south.