Back to Chile again. I booked an apartment through Airbnb in Santiago. It was a studio apartment on the 15th floor of a block near the historic district.

It was right on top of the Bellas Artes metro station.

It also had great views over the city right through to snow covered Andes and was very cheap!

As usual, I checked out the local hop on hop off bus tour to get a quick introduction to the city. It started off in Plaza de Armas.

Took in the Cathedral.

Old fire station – now shops.

La Moneda – Presidential Palace

Plaza Baquedano with the supposedly mobile phone shaped HQ of Entel behind.

Santiago still has some quite grand architecture as a result of its colonial past. Paseo Bulnes is one of the grandest pedestrian streets.

The city also has some great parks. Parque Forestal runs alongside the Mapocho river in the city centre.

Unfortunately, the river is not a highlight.

There is a great fine arts museum (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes) in the park with some exhibits located outside in the park.

Cerro San Cristóbal is a hill that rises up about 300m above the northern part of the city. It is a quite a hike to the top or you can take the easy option via cable car.

On its summit there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. This consists of a chapel and an amphitheatre (which is used for big religious events when the chapel isn’t big enough).

There is also a 22-meter statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and lots of multi coloured crosses.

 

My favourite park was Cerro Santa Lucia (St Lucia Hill) close to my apartment. It has some very ornate facades, stairways and fountains.

The ascent starts off nice and gently.

But gets much steeper towards the summit.

You get some great views of the city centre.

Barrio Paris-Londres is a pretty neighbourhood around the intersection of two cobblestoned streets – Paris and Londres. It has a more sinister side as one of General Pinochet’s detention centres was located at Londres 38.

Nearby is Iglesia de San Francisco which is Santiago’s oldest surviving colonial building.

Next door is a convent. I’m not sure what this monk was doing there.

There was a wedding just about to start when I went past. I noticed all the ladies were dressed in black.

North west of the city centre is an area called Las Condres which the financial centre of the city. It is also has all the top end shops and restaurants.

However, my favourite part of the city turned out to be the Bellas Artes district where my apartment was located. I found a great café just along the street – Café Mosqueto.

There were plenty of bars and restaurants just across the river.

And some interesting street markets.

I enjoyed my stay in Santiago. It came across as a pretty laid back city with lovely weather.