Day 01 – Hello Santiago!
After traveling for more than 20h (including a 6 hour stopover in Dallas), we arrive in Santiago, Chile, at 10 o’clock in the morning. Outside, it’s 30 degrees Celsius (92°F) and the sun is shining bright. It feels good!! 😁 Well, actually, it feels a bit too hot right now. To lighten our luggage, we’ve put on all our winter clothes. Doo is wearing two pairs of jeans, a winter undershirt, two sweaters, a jacket and his warm coat from Korea in addition to carrying his backpack, a handbag, Côme’s toy backpack and coats (piouf … 🥵).
We are staying 4 days in Santiago and right from the start, we have a really good feeling about this city! The metro is clean and inviting (Los Angeles’ clear opposite), people seem to be stress free and friendly, the overall atmosphere is really pleasant: the city smell, the trees and graffitis in the streets…
After struggling to pay the apartment (beware future travelers, French credit cards do not always work in Chile) we settle in our beautiful duplex appartement in the heart of the city. Yes! After 20 wandering days in the van in the States we thought of treating ourselves to a nice few days here. 😁
Since Julia hasn’t slept on the plane (just in case she has to warn the pilot or something, remember? 😂), she’s stays in the apartment to take a nap while Côme, Doo and Groin go explore a park right next to our home. After a while, mostly playing with the canons at the park, we go back to pick Julia up and have a little stroll in the city centre. The center is very lively. There are street vendors everywhere selling a bit of everything: from second hand clothes to freshly squeezed orange juice or bell peppers in a supermarket trolley. There are artists, scam artists and even a street game in which people have to throw coins on a printed poster to win money if their coin landed properly…
Our first impressions of the city’s atmosphere are confirmed. Walking around feels really nice. There’s music in the streets, people are chilling… The population is very diverse: there are whites, latinos, natives, blacks. There’s not one “typical” Chilean profile. Apart from Kuala Lumpur, we haven’t seen such diversity on our trip around the world. It’s pretty cool.
By the end of the afternoon, we go back to the park next to our place. The fountains are beautiful and there’s a 360° view of the city. As we had seen from the plane, Santiago is surrounded by arid mountains. This city is really an oasis in the middle of the desert…
Day 02 – Chilling in Chile
This morning, waking up is particularly pleasant. We’re all really happy to be here, in this apartment, in Santiago. We want to take our time, like people here. So we slowly head to a small craft market near our home. The weather hasn’t changed a bit, and it won’t for the entirety of our stay, the sun is shining and there’s not a single cloud in the sky. At the market, we fall for two cute little lamas souvenirs who will eventually end up living in Hogwarts forbidden forest with Côme’s Harry Potter Legos.
When comes lunch time we “settle” for a huge bag of fruits we bought for peanuts at a street vendor and go eat in a park. Then we head back to the city center to roam the streets we haven’t taken yesterday. As with its population, architecture here is also very heterogeneous: there are colonial, Hispanic, romantic, industrial or even very modern buildings. During our slow exploration, we visit a fish market in a building that’s twin to the Grand Palais in Paris, we visit some pretty churches (but we are taken aback by the graffitis on their walls), we go to “la Plaza de Armas”… We really like it here!
Day 03 – A Peaceful Stroll
On Sundays, in Santiago, everything is closed. So we thought of going to the cemetery to learn a little bit more about Chilean culture. Doo has a theory: to get a better appreciation for the culture of a country, you absolutely have to go to a place of worship, a cemetery, a market/supermarket and a school (in addition, you have to take public transports and eat local food of course).
On our way to the cemetery, we walk in front of an open art museum and decide to visit. It is very small but there are artworks we have never seen before. The works of art are printed on plexiglass that is fixed 5 cm (2 inches) from the wall and with the light, it gives the artwork a depth that is very surprising.
Then we head back towards the cemetery. It is huge! So big, it feels like a city by itself. And just like a city, it is divided in distinct neighborhoods. There’s the poor district with tomb “apartment” blocks (we had never seen before), the one with “classic” tombstones and trees, the one that is abandoned and arid, the children’s cemetery and the wealthy “neighborhood” with beautiful vaults and large trees.
Many people are visiting their loved ones and speaking to them. The graves of the poorest people are the most colorful, with flowers, windmills or/and commemorative plaques from their family. After staying for a while in the cemetery, we will conclude this very peaceful day walking around pretty little alleys looking very Parisian like (one of the streets there is even named Paris).
Day 04 – Art is Everywhere
Our day starts with the visit of the magnificent national library (which was closed until then). The building is impressive but the interior is somewhat puzzling. Apart from a small room which has kept the charm of classical libraries, there are no books in this library… There’s a very interesting exhibit on the first explorers and their encounter with the indigenous population though.
On our way to the artistic district, we walk through a couple of huge markets. There are people everywhere and prices you can’t beat. You can buy 2 kilos of grapes for 1.20 € or 30 eggs for 1 € here… We can finally understand how people manage to eat in Santiago. So far, we had found the cost of living pretty expensive for people who had to live with 300€ a month (the minimum salary here). Since we are walking a lot today, we can’t buy anything but a bag of candies for 1.25 €. It would have cost us about 8€ in a French movie theatre.
But the life of the candies is short lived and the bag is already emptied as we reach the artistic neighborhood. There, we find frescoes and graffitis everywhere and there’s something for everyone: mosaics on the floor and street art going from the most classical to the wackiest.
When we head back home, we walk around a very chic and trendy neighborhood just behind the park we really like. Tomorrow we’re already taking the plane to the extreme south of the country. We are sad to leave Santiago. We really fell in love with this city and would have liked to stay a few more days, taking our time, strolling around some more, eating a ceviché at the fish market… Oh well… Let’s continue our adventure!!!
In santiago, Côme:
Did not understand: why there were no books in the library.
Learnt: that two buildings could be linked by a catwalk.
Loved: the sun and to play with the canons.
Julia:
Did not understand: why there were graffitis on the church in such a religious country.
Learnt: that life in Santiago were really nice. The weather, good music, good and cheap fresh products, the overall atmosphere…
Loved: the many parcs in the city, particularly the one by our place.
Doo:
Did not understand: why other travelers said that Santiago was not worth it.
Learnt: that Chilean people were chilled.
Loved: the overall vibe of the city and the interactions with the people.