Santiago: A day to wander

January 4, 2018

After a good nights sleep and a nice breakfast I grabbed my trusty map and headed out on the streets of Santiago. The centre of the city is not that large and it has several pedestrian only streets so it was easy to navigate. I started by visiting San Lucía park and gardens. On the high ground, which is the remnant of a very old volcano is an old fort called Castle Hidalgo. The views from the top were worth the climb up some precarious stone steps. Once back down I headed to the cathedral and the pedestrian area. After 3 hours it was getting hot so I took a break back at the hotel. Remember it was -24C in Toronto and a day later I am in +24C temperatures. Patti arrived about 4PM and at 6 we met up with Hilary and Christopher for 🥂, a light dinner, a walk and of course 🍦. Off early in the AM to begin the 🚴🏽‍♀️.

The view from the 9th floor of our hotel. The snow capped Andes can be seen in the distance.

Bicycle commuters on their way to work this morning.

A Chilean palm tree in the circular garden.

A panorama of Santiago from the top of the castle

Another view of the city with the Andes in the distance.

Neptune Terrace and fountain that sadly was dry.

City commuter bikes have come to Santiago.

I stopped to listen to these street musicians on one of the pedestrian streets for a short while. They were very good.

The Christmas season will officially end with the epiphany on Jan 6. On the far side of this tree was a manger and in the distance is the cathedral.

Map of South America showing Chile and the distance to some major world cities.

Inside the cathedral there were two more mangers. This one is in the smal chapel.

The Pope is coming to Chile this month and he will be in Santiago on the 16th thankfully we won’t be here. It is going to be a holiday and he will get rock star treatment. The crowds will be crazy so I am happy to still be away from the city.

Free roaming dogs are a common sight in the city. This one was smart enough to find a cool place in the park.

An exterior view of the Santiago Cathedral in Place Armas.

Patti having a short swim in the hotel roof top pool.

After dinner ice cream, guess who had chocolate on chocolate?

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