Santiago Dreaming

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Dressed all in white a piper played to us on a hill in the centre of Santiago. He had come from El Bolson, the farming and hippie community in Argentina, across the Andes. He didn’t play particularly well but possessed a young wholesome hippie glow that, combined with the fact that we had stumbled on him in the labyrinth of stairs, patios and lookouts that carve through the thick vegetation of the historical Santa Lucia Hill, gave the whole experience a middle-earth like feel that was more than welcome.

Cerro Santa Lucia was where Spanish Conquistador Pedro De Valdivia founded the city of Santiago on February 12th, 1541. The castle hidalgo, a very ornate building of yellow walls, white pillars, multiple arches, sculptures, curving balustrades and semi circular and circular shaped walls and structures, sits at its base, and is a welcome visual treat when escaping the bustling inner city streets of central Santiago. Inside, I believe, is a museum regarding Chiles indigenous people.

Making our way to the top of Santa Lucia we arrived at a fort like 'mirador' perched on its peak that provided great views over Santiago in every direction.

A short walk through the upmarket neighbourhood north east of Cerro Santa Lucia is Parque Metropolitano, a lush forested area, one of the largest parks in the country, which occupies the hills of Chararillas, Gemelos, Piramide and the highest point, San Cristobal (863 meters). The mountain these hills occupy can be ascended by foot, bike, car or funicular.

The funicular would have to be the most pleasurable means of transport. It’s entrance, at the mountains base, is a castle like terminus – like something out of Disney World. On the day of my visit a llama available for paid photographs definitely enhanced this impression. Funiculars (cars/carriages on tracks) tend to ascend mountains in a directly upward fashion – fast efficient and different.

The funicular deposits you at Terraza Bellavista, a long terrace that stretches along the hilltop, which, as the name suggests, provides beautiful views over Santiago. From here easy access is provided to all of Parque Metropolitano’s attractions: a zoo, picnic areas, two pools, restaurants, children’s play areas, a chapel, botanical gardens, cable cars and at the summit of San Cristobal, standing 14 meters tall, on a pedestal 23 meters high, our very own Virgin of the Immaculate conception.

The cable cars are definitely worth experiencing. Red, yellow and baby blue and looking like 60’s designed sci-fi movie space pods they cross multiple hills through thick foliage, afford great views and provide the perfect enclosed space for engaging in a little shenanigans.

If you plan to spend any time in Santiago my advice would be to find your lodging in Barrio Brazil. With its bohemian bar and café culture it’s a great place to relax and immerse yourself in hip Santiago culture when not running around trying to take in the cities attractions. Barrio Brazil is the main student district of Santiago and a place where Western and Latino culture collide: in the visuals that adorn the bar and café interiors; the music (from flamenco to Blondie - Blondie is very popular here) and dress of the local punters.

Baires Restaurant Bar on Avenida Brazil, in the first block south of the plaza, was my favourite little place. An awning and alfresco tables and chairs, occupied by coffee sipping intellectuals, greet you at its entrance (with a view across the street to a café wall’s mural of a matchbox red head female face mirrored by a yellow headed replica). Inside is low lit, with red walls covered in large minimalist bubble like shapes, an illuminated bar, euro-mulleted sexy bar maids and multiple lightly glowing triangular prism light shades. It’s cool, the music is great and they serve a really nice Pisco Sour.

West of Barrio Brazil is Parque Quinta Normal in which you will find the Museum of Natural History. The park has a large variety of foreign plant species, so much so that it has been declared a nature sanctuary. It also has a nice lake at which to sit and watch the wadding birds and paddle boats. The Natural History Museum is housed in a neoclassical building and possesses a large collection of stuffed exotic animals, the skeleton of a massive whale and an intriguing array of very beautiful shells accompanied by detailed explanations (in Spanish) on the manner by which they depict the beauty of the golden spiral – that lovable mathematical phenomenon.

Map: www.lonelyplanet.com /mapshells/south_america /santiago/santiago.htm