Once again, we got off to a late start today. I woke up first and went to the Juan Valdez Café next to the hotel for my morning tea. I got another one to go and came back to the room. We didn’t leave for the day until a little before 11:00 a.m.
First on the agenda: finding the El Golf metro station and buying a Bip! card. The metro in Santiago is clean and inexpensive. Each ride is 400 pesos, about 80 US cents. I loaded a Bip! card, and both of us were able to use it. We took the metro to La Moneda station. It took a couple of minutes of orient ourselves, but we found Chile’s Presidential Palace without much trouble:
We walked around to the back, which is really the front, and saw the Plaza de la Constitución. The plaza has statues of some former Chilean Presidents, including a prominent one of Salvador Allende on its east side:
After we had taken way too many pictures of the plaza, we walked up Morandé for a few blocks to Catedral and then over to Plaza de Armas. This plaza was much more abuzz with activity – tourists, locals, businesspeople, vendors, etc.
The most striking feature of the plaza is Catedral de Santiago:
After all this walking, I was getting hungry, so I pointed us toward Mercado Central, which was just a few blocks away. Walking through the market could be pretty disgusting for someone who does not like fish, because there is fresh fish everywhere. There is also the smell of fish. I doubt any other inland city has as much fresh fish as Santiago:
The market reminded me of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, because everyone called me “my friend.” Of course, they were just trying to get me to eat at their restaurant. The concierge at the W recommended a place called El Galeón. There were probably less expensive restaurants in the market, but as a couple of gringos, we were happy to follow a recommendation.
I had a few “must tries” on my list, including congrio frito (fried conger eel), so I ordered it with a salad. Mr. FB ordered the corvina (sea bass, another one of my must tries) a la plancha with fries. I ordered half a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to go with it.
Because we arrived a little after 1:00 p.m., we barely beat the lunch rush, so our food was served quickly. The conger eel looked like any other hunk of fried fish:
and it had a delicate flavor. I don’t think anyone tasting it blindly would think it was eel. The corvina was also delicious, slightly more flavorful than the congrio. The bill, including tip, was a little less than 19,000 pesos, or about US$38. I can’t imagine getting fish this fresh and wine for anywhere close to $38 back home (and I live in Florida).
Mr. FB wanted to visit the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, and we had passed it earlier without even realizing it. Therefore, we retraced our steps. On the way, we saw a Café Haiti, one of Santiago’s shops offering “Cafés con Piernas,” or coffee with legs. These shops sell coffee that is served by women wearing short short skirts. As a couple of guys who have been in a relationship for over seven years and married for nearly 18 months, it was the experience that interested us more than the scenery. This is one of those things anyone visiting Santiago should do, just because of its uniqueness.
After this break, we made it to the museum. The exhibits were well done. We both expected it to focus on items from Chile and were surprised to find artifacts from throughout the Incan empire. The pottery, textiles, gold, and other items did an excellent job of educating the visitor about the people who had lived in Chile and as far north as Mexico before Europeans arrived in the Americas.
It was not all Incan, however. These Chemamull gave some insight into the culture of the Mapuches:
When we left the museum, we walked east along Paseo Huérfanos past department stores, cafes, and shops, until we reached Cerro Santa Lucia. Thankfully, we were able to ascend the hill with the help of an elevator! When we got to the top, we decided to enjoy the scenery and the pleasant breezes. We got a couple of Diet Cokes and parked ourselves on a bench for at least thirty minutes. Then we began our gradual descent, pausing to take pictures here and there. We got a few with the Andes in the background, but imagine they would be much more striking if the mountains were covered in snow.
At the bottom of the hill, we took some time to admire the terraces we had just passed through
before walking to the Santa Lucia metro station, where we caught a train back to El Golf.
It was about 5:00 p.m. when we made it back to the hotel, and we relaxed for about two hours before dinner. We had our dinner in two parts. First we visited a Dominó where I had completo. That’s the Chilean hot dog with ketchup, American sauce (whatever that is), chopped tomatoes, and green salsa. Mr. FB got what I meant to get, the completo with palta (mashed avacado). Thankfully, these were not as big as some of the ones I had heard about, so they made excellent appetizers. (To be honest, I want another one before we leave.) Next, we visited a nearby Italian restaurant called Tiramisu and split an olive pizza. The crust was nice and crisp and there was very little sauce. The green and black olives were whole. I had an Austral Lager and Mr. FB had a mango sour.
Not surprisingly, our appetites were completely satisfied after going to two places for dinner. We have a lot more to see tomorrow in Santiago, so we need to keep up our strength!