Two Busy Days in Santiago

Friday, January 31, 2014

Welcome to Chile.  After a totally ordinary flight from DC to Miami and then from Miami to Santiago, it was an easy landing, easy immigration and no problems traveling into this country of 17 million people, six million of whom live in metro Santiago.   Our driver took us the long way around to get to our friend, Tim’s home in Viticura, one of the city’s poshest neighborhoods. Since he is a diplomat, what would we expect!  And his driver knew all the places to see on the way!

We passed all the major downtown sights, the Presidential palace and the various national galleries, as Nelson pointed some of the places and events dating back to the Pinochet dictatorship, now fortunately long gone.

At first glance Santiago is a rather ordinary city of not much great architecture.  But after two days here we begin to realize that it has some very charming sections and all of it doesn’t look like a combination of Los Angeles and Denver with its mountain backdrop.  The Andes are very grand, but there is no snow on them at this time of year.  

Tim's Garden and the Andes

Our first day, yesterday, after a quick breakfast at our friend’s home, we went off to find pesos and go exploring.   We walked to the nearest bank and then decided it was such a lovely day we’d enjoy the walk, about a mile, to the nearest metro station.  We passed the Escuala Militar which we learned is the home of the last Prussian trained military in the world, whose graduates included Dictator Pinochet among others.  They still wears Prussian style helmets (which we did not see.)

Grand Old Station

From there we bought our BIP cards, similar to Washington’ s SmartTrp cards, and headed off to the rubber-tired Line 1 for our trip downtown to do a self-guided walking tour.  We started at the old 19th century railway station, from the days when Chile had a very active functioning train system.  Now it’s an art center but it still has the gorgeous steel work of a 120 year old station, designed in France and then assembled in Chile.  After that a quick walk through the Eiffel designed city market, now a disappointing collection of fish markets, and then strolling through the crowded pedestrian walking streets to the Plaza de Armas.   

Santiago Cathedral Altar

This plaza is the oldest in Chile and site of the huge cathedral, now restored and rebuilt, as many older churches are not, after the 2010 earthquake that rattled Santiago and destroyed many freeways in the southern city of Concepcion.  The cathedral is really quite grand in a very typical Spanish Roman Catholic colonial style, with lots of g gilt and saintly statues. 

Lassataria

Since the Plaza itself is closed for renovations we walked along the arcades of hot dog sellers (one is supposed to eat a “Cpmpleto” which we have yet to do).  From there we wandered up Ave Merced to a clothes shop Ben had read about in the NY Times and a lunch at Emporip Rosas, an ice cream shop with good sandwiches.   We can very much recommend their passion fruit with black pepper sherbet and their mint with thai basil ice cream.  MMMM.  

After lunch Ben tried to find a pair of shoes at the Times-recommended store, to no luck,  We then headed to Lastarria, a street of wine shops and fine restaurants to saunter on the way home,   Some time during the afternoon walk, or on the metro, John got his bag picked, losing his folder with passports, money and business cards,  (He dd not realize his loss till this morning—Saturday—and had panicky calls to the American Embassy, etc,  However, while coffee-ing at Starbucks, he received an email from an angel to say she had found the passports and some papers, and that would we contact her to pick them up!   We will do this tomorrow.  What a wonderful baker—she works in a Lider supermarket about an hour from here on the Metro.  Rewards!  Of course, the money is gone.)

Yesterday night we had a wonderful evening outside on the terrace, watching the sun turn the Andes pink and enjoying an excellent Immobile rosé sparking Chilean wine with Chilean style hamburgers, salad grown in the garden and pequin pickles, a slightly spicy Chilean relish of chili peppers, cucumbers and cilantro freshly made.   Dessert—made by Sonia, the housekeeper from a German style kuchen recipe from the southern Chilean provinces settled by many Germans.   

Much good conversation and an early night.

Saturday, February 1

After good coffee we headed off to lunch with Tim’s friend Cata, a senior administrator to the Minister at the cultural affairs department here in Santiago.   She lives in a restored house in Barrio Yungay, one of the first barrios of Santiago, full of old, and somewhat dilapidated homes from the early 19th century—in some ways reminiscent of the French Quarter in New Orleans where it has NOT been gentrified.

Lunch and Huge Sandwiches

First we lunched a typical Santiago sandwich shop, the Fuente Mardoqueo, at Liberdad 551.  The restaurant is quite well-known to Santiagoans, but not many, if any, tourists.   The inside walls are full of historical items like radios, typewriters, electric meters, and such attached the walls.   The sandwiches are huge.  John had a pork sandwich, about eight inches (20 cm) across with mayo, pepinillo relish and tomatoes with a Kunstmann beer with honey (not to his taste).  He couldn’t finish the sandwich.   Ben, who had a similar sandwich with chicken, managed a good bit of his, but also couldn’t finish it.   It’s a real treat of a place:  you order when you go in and then the sandwich is given to you and you find a seat at one of many long tables.  You pay at the cashier by the front door when you leave.

Wall Mural in Yungay

Earthquake Damage

Wood Interior

From there we toured the Yungay and Brazil barrios with their huge number of very old homes, buildings, factories and churches.   The area was fashionable till about the First World War and many of the homes, somewhat in disrepair, are grand.   Cata made sure we saw the whole area with its two plazas (Yungay and Brazil), and its huge population of Peruvian immigrants.  The wall murals range from extravagant art to ordinary graffiti.  Some of the churches and buildings were severely damaged in the 2010 earthquake and one lovely church is still closed.  Others, like the Capuchin church, with its memorial to Pi Pio, a monk who was reported to have stigmata like Christ and capable of miracles, was in great repair.  Made entirely of wood, it has faux marble paintings inside on the interior supporting columns.   Cata arranged for us to see the inside though the church is generally kept locked to keep out thieves.

With the two hour tour coming to an end, we jumped into the car and headed home.  We stopped for bread for our hot dogs and a magnificent Austrian chocolate cake.  A quick swim, and the dinner with several of Tim’s friends, Cata included.  Jose-Carlos, a Spaniard, Danilo, a chef, Christian, a businessman like Jose-Carlos, Tim and us.   Lots of fun conversation and a great time.   Dinner was salad from the garden, grilled chicken breasts marinated in orange and spices, and sausages.  At home Chilean food is not generally highly spiced, mostly simple grilles and roasts.   Roasted potatoes are the norm.  Not into bed till 1:30 AM.