Chile 2016

Saturday29thOctober

The Angamos Hotel in Santiago where we are staying.

A short stroll in the large O'Higgins Park, a place for young people to relax with its amusement park and performance halls.

The roller skating rink is busy this Saturday morning.

Pedal boats and picnic tables to complete the park.

Return to the city center via the Pio Nono bridge, which spans the Mapocho River.

The padlocks on Parisian bridges have inspired others; the Pio Nono bridge also has its love locks...  

Oh yes, I did alternate my fries with mashed potatoes!  

Having been unable to use the funiculars of Valparaíso due to a strike, we at least enjoy the one on Cerro San Cristobal, Santiago's highest hill.

The funicular was put into service in 1925.

The crossing of the two funiculars.

The view encompasses a good part of Santiago.

A few steps to reach the summit where the 14 meters of the Virgin's statue are added to the 863 meters of the hill...

This statue was erected in 1908.

Beneath the statue's feet, the pedestal contains a small chapel built by the French architect Eugène Joannon Crozier.

Facing the statue, in the distance, stands Santiago's great tower with its 300 meters.

From the statue, a path of crucifixes leads to the Sanctuary chapel, dedicated to the "Maternity of the Holy Virgin"...

We walk down the hill and enjoy some wild greenery that still resists the relentless architecture of the big city...

The 64 floors spread over the 300 meters of the "Gran Torre Santiago".

On the other side, it's no longer hills but mountains that block the capital's advance.

We end the day with a quick stroll through the general cemetery ("Cementerio general"), the Chilean Père-Lachaise, located in the Recoleta neighborhood.

Wooded and spacious areas...

...but also the optimization of space where each coffin has its own square. No more. Here, Chileans are busy cleaning and decorating the final resting place of their loved ones, as in two days, it will be November 1st, All Saints' Day.

The memorial to the victims of Augusto Pinochet's regime. On this wall, on the left are inscribed the names of those executed, and on the right, the disappeared detainees...

The Cementerios metro station.

Evening dinner with empanadas, the typical turnovers filled with meat, or cheese, or vegetables... Then we head to the central station where we take a bus to our next stop in the Araucanía region, located 600 kilometers to the south!