Chile 2016

Wednesday26October

Nantes - Amsterdam: 1h30
Amsterdam - Atlanta: 9h45
Atlanta - Santiago de Chile: 9h35
This is how much flight time it will take us to reach our goal: 2 days of travel with waiting time between each city! But with the time difference (6 hours), it's only one day after our departure that we arrive in the capital Santiago de Chile...

Thursday27October

Our 4 weeks of Chilean exploration begin with a bit more waiting at Arturo Merino Benítez Airport because customs is on strike! We'll find out later that the whole country is on strike for a few days... Let's hope this doesn't hinder our visits!

"Aduana en paro"... Customs on strike...

Phew! That's it! Here we are in the heart of the city, or at least beneath its heart, here in the subway, station "los dominicos".

First lunch break... Once will be customary, chicken and fries will be my favorite dish throughout the trip...  

Passing by the National Library before heading to Cerro Santa Lucia

Santa Lucia Hill, one of the best viewpoints over the city and the surrounding mountains, and what's more, a beautiful wooded park dotted with statues and fountains...

View of the buildings from Cerro Santa Lucia.

On its rock, the statue of Caupolicán, chief of the Mapuches. The Mapuches or Araucanians were the indigenous inhabitants of the region before the Spanish colonization...

Panoramic view of the city. One can make out the Andes mountain range surrounding the city.

In the distance, the city's other hill, Cerro San Cristóbal with the immense statue of the Virgin.

The Huerfanos Tower in the business center of the capital.

The conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, founder of the city in 1541.

At the bottom of the hill, a ceramic fresco by the painter Fernando Daza in homage to the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral.

A little further on, other improvised frescoes on the bank of the Mapocho River.

On the other side of the river, the Tirso Molina covered market.

A South American market without a religious altar is not a real market...  

700 pesos per kilo of oranges, or about 1 euro. But 2500 pesos per kilo of mangoes, or 3.5 euros...

We are in the middle of strawberry season!

The Plaza de Armas subway entrance.

The construction of the cathedral began in 1584.

The Virgin of Carmen, the patron saint of the country.

La Moneda Palace (the Mint) in the Plaza de la Ciudadanía. It is the Chilean Elysée, currently occupied by Michelle Bachelet, the president of the Chilean republic.

Built starting in 1784, coins were minted there until 1845, when the building became the official residence of the government and the president.

Hop! Back by subway.

This place echoes the S62 prison in Phnom Penh that we visited almost a year ago... Behind this street number (38), lay the site of imprisonment and torture during the years 1974 and 1975. The secret police of the time silenced opponents of dictator Augusto Pinochet's regime...

On the ground, commemorative plaques engraved with the names of the regime's victims. Zacarias Antonio Machuca Munoz, 22 years old. Sergio Arturo Flores Ponce, 23 years old. Juan Ernesto Ibarra Toledo, 21 years old. Etc. etc...

On the ground, commemorative plaques engraved with the names of the regime's victims. Zacarias Antonio Machuca Munoz, 22 years old. Sergio Arturo Flores Ponce, 23 years old. Juan Ernesto Ibarra Toledo, 21 years old. Etc. etc...

Evening meal... and still not gourmet!  
Tomorrow, we're heading to the city of Valparaíso, about a hundred kilometers from here on the Pacific coast.