Santiago, Chile
Finally - a day to sleep in. Up about 8 and out to see the city a few hours later. Another blue sky and hot day; it was nice to get started before the heat became too intense. Our goal was to explore San Cristobal Hill. It is the second highest hill in the city. On its summit there is a sanctuary with a 22m statue of the Virgin Mary, an amphitheater, and a chapel. The hill houses Santiago's largest public park (Santiago Metropolitan Park). There is a cable car that goes to the top but we chose to walk up, largely on footpaths. What a gem this park is for the people of Santiago! There were lots of cyclists riding up (and down) the various roads of the hill - way more bikes than cars, actually. The walking paths led us past various points of interest. There were viewpoints over the city (and its smog), botanical gardens, a tower, a huge swimming pool, and mountain bike trails. There was a wedding ceremony going on in the chapel when we reached the top. Definitely something for everyone!
Once at the top there is a funicular to take you down the other side to the neighbourhood of Bellavista. Once again we chose to walk. It looked to us that Bellavista had a lot of restaurants and maybe some theatres. Joan found a great gelato spot and paid-up the ransom she owed me for the safe delivery of her electric toothbrush that she had left in Puerto Natales. Yum!
We made our way toward the huge Costanera Center - the Torre Costanera is 300m tall, is the tallest building in Latin America and is the second tallest in the Southern Hemisphere (after one in Australia). There is a 6-storey shopping mall in there and has many of the same brands that we have in our shopping centres at home. Bizarre! The building was completed in 2012.
Along the way we found Parque de las Esculturas - an open air museum with large sculptures. The parks we've been through today are very well used by the locals - from actively recreating to simply finding some shade to lie in. My overall impression of Santiago is that it is a very liveable city, at least if you don't have to drive a car at rush hour!
Back to the hostel to find Barb and Jill, and out for dinner one last time. We start our flights home late tomorrow evening so we'll get in a bit more sightseeing during the day and head out to the airport around 5. It's been a great trip, but it's time to head home............
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