Santiago de Chile was the fourth South American capital city on our trip and we loved the European way it looked and felt. There are even some streets that reminded us of London and it felt almost like home.
Our view from our first apartment in Santiago
The central market in Santiago is known for its great seafood and fish selection
We started to get to know the city on a walking tour, where we learned a lot about what happened at the military coup on September 11, 1973, during which then-President Salvador Allende died. According to official reports it was suicide: Allende allegedly killed himself with triggering his AK-47 with his toe. Our guide left it to us if we believe it or not. She did not seem to be very convinced.
Similar to the other South American countries we visited, Chile has quite a moving recent history and it is remarkable how well developed the country is – at least in Santiago. In the Pinochet era thousands of people were tortured, killed, disappeared or went to exile. The Museum of Memory & Human Rights tells about this dark chapter of the country. A sad museum but a very important one to understand this part of Chile‘s history.
The Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos
We also used the chance to visit an art museum while we were in a big city. We went into the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC) and enjoyed some modern Chilean art projects. Sometimes our Spanish was not sufficient to understand everything and we were a little bit irritated, especially by some videos, however it was a nice experience.
Artworks in the MAC
For New Year‘s Eve we planned to go to Valparaíso. We only found out afterwards that Valparaíso is known to be one of the main places to be at New Years in all of South America. This explained why we almost found no room, why hostel rooms cost over 200 USD and why our Airbnb host charged us a higher amount after we confirmed our booking.
Valparaíso was by far not so clean and European as Santiago. But it had a special vibe to it, being an ocean city and built on 43 „cerros“ (hills). Furthermore, Valparaíso is home for all kinds of artists, especially street artists. Nearly every house is painted with graffiti, some more artistic than others. This together with the blue ocean and the bright sun gives the city its unique and colorful look.
Here are some pictures of the colourful city of Valparaíso:
In Valparaíso our main activity was to walk onto the cerros to get to know the city and to see the art on the street. We also used the ascensors, which are like cog railways (Zahnradbahn) from the 19th century. They are very famous and cheap as well.
This is one of the ascensors. They cost 300 CLP, which is about 50 cents.
One of the main attractions in Valparaíso is New Years Eve with its vast and fabulous fireworks. All four cities situated in the bay of Valparaíso take part and deliver a fireworks spectacle that in its size and length is unreached in South America – at least that’s what they told us.
We celebrated this special event in our Airbnb together with our guest family and another French couple. We had an amazing view over the bay from the balcony and enjoyed the 20 minutes of the red, yellow, green and blue symphony. It was a joyful and amazing start into 2018. After midnight we went into the city, which was full of young people who celebrated on the streets. There was also a stage with live music on one of the main squares, which was fully packed with dancing and singing people.
The famous fireworks of Valparaíso
On January 2nd we took the bus back to Santiago where we had another apartment in our favorite neighborhood Barrio Lastarria. In the last few days I used the time to explore the skate shops of the city. I loved the idea of having a Longboard for traveling, although that meant to have much more luggage and a larger suitcase. However, I was not able to resist once I was in the shop. In total I bought a Longboard, a helmet, gloves and shoes (safety first!!). Fortunately everything fitted in or on my backback, it just added some more weight. In the evening I went out into the streets of Santiago and tested my Longboard. It was divine, the board felt smooth and was perfect for carving the streets.
My Arbor Mindstate
On January 5 we left the city for Patagonia, the Southern most part of Chile. We were looking forward to get into nature and enjoy the wild rugged landscape.
Erst einmal weg... 