Santiago is a large, sprawling city that has a lot to offer. Since I was only in the city for three days, I was only able to see a few areas. If time allowed, I could have easily seen myself visiting other neighborhoods and exploring other parks.
There were a few main spots on my list for the city. First up was the incline and cable car, or “funicular y teleferico.” We had such a beautiful day to ride up the mountain and take in the view of the city spreading out below.
At the top of the incline, there was a nice selection of trinket shops, empanada counters and seats to rest in as you took in the beautiful view. It was very hot with no clouds in the sky, so we took time to hydrate before moving on to the teleferico. We had a round-trip ticket so we hung out in the sky for quite a while, peering out at the far-off buildings and nearby parks which had some amazing trees.
Once we were back at the castle-looking building where we started our journey, we grabbed a cab to Los Dominicos handicraft market. I always try to go to these local artists stalls to get great pieces of art to bring back…and this place was awesome.
Quite a bit of time passed before we had a look at all the shops. Everything was so packed with stalls looking like they were made with scrap wood and duct tape…but the insides were beautiful little shrines, decorated with a certain type of art or a certain style of artwork. I found some beautifully painted leather bookmarks and a white alpaca shawl. The only things missing was a map…I love maps. Note to visitors: after looking at a handful of shops, if you find something you like, get it! Otherwise, you’ll never find your way back. there are a few little juice stands and a little cafe if you need a rest from all your treasure hunting.
Upon trying to grab a taxi back to our apartment, our cab driver was lost and couldn’t (or wouldn’t) communicate that he was just going to let us out o a random street because he was tired of driving us around. So, we made our way to a Starbucks, used the wifi and just had another taxi drop us at the Plaza de Armas…probably something we should have tried in the first place…stick to landmarks.
Anyway, we took advantage of our beautiful neighborhood (Lastarria) and saw what was within walking distance. Just about two blocks away we found loads of outdoor cafe’s, high-end mini shops and beautiful street art, with an amazing park nearby.
The next day was our last day to explore. (We were supposed to have a full evening in Santiago at the beginning of our trip, prior to hopping over to Easter Island…but our flights drastically changed at the last-minute.) So, we used our last day the best way we could, without trying to overload ourselves.
We found an antique market online, so we hailed a taxi to “Galpon Persa Balmaceda Brasil-Antiguedades,” or a very large antique market where you’d expect to see the experts from Antique Roadshow hanging out.
We easily killed a few hours walking through each and every aisle. I couldn’t believe how many amazing things I saw. Items from old Spanish ships, old chests, brass sculptures, crystal pieces…I could only imagine the story and age behind these gems.
After we had our fill of breathing in pounds of dust, we made our way back to the Plaza de Armas. We took time checking out the buildings surrounding the Plaza and purchased a beautiful watercolor painting from the artists in the pop-up tents.
On the way back towards the apartment, we stopped off at an empty cafe for a treat. Luckily, the lady who ran the cafe spoke very good English and was able to make me a frozen “iced” coffee. (the concept of “iced” drinks is completely unusual…unless you go to a Starbucks, so this lady’s version of a cold drink was super appreciated, especially on a very hot day.) I also had a piece of Strawberry Torte that was so amazingly good that I concluded that one of the ingredients must have been magic…there was literally no other explanation.
After a rest, it was time to enjoy our last evening in the city. We ate at a rooftop cafe as the locals were gearing up for what I assumed to be a regular weekend street fair. Everywhere in our neighborhood were bright purple trees. The table at our cafe was right in front of one. The color was so vibrant. I never did ask anyone what kind of tree it was, but that vivid color will always remind me of our last evening having dinner three stories up. Santiago was simply beautiful.
EXPOSED LATITUDES 