It was a PICTURE PERFECT day flying out of San Diego, albeit a bit cold for us. Had some amazing photo opps from my window seat...I've seen this view many times, but these perfectly clear days are not so frequent, and I was ready to take the shot!
Leaving the city, we fly over Mount Laguna. There was only a tiny bit of snow remaining from last weekend's storm, but it shows the dramatic contrast to desert and Saltan Sea in the distance.
The deserts of California into Arizona are quite spectacular in the late afternoon sunlight. The shadows reveal pointy mountaintops. And the larger sand dunes and hills could almost look the same as the late afternoon sun hitting the sand at a San Diego beach...which is one of my favorite times (feeling the cooling sand on toes and long shadows of a day gone by).
And after snoozing overnight on the plane, we awake to early morning over the Andes in Chile! Hugging the coastline, not sure if I'm seeing clouds or fog in the valleys. The land seems barren, but again, early morning light without contrast, and we are probably still 20,000 feet in the air...not sure. But I'm awed by the rugged terrain is obvious, snow-capped mountains in the middle of their summer season.
As we get closer to Santiago, there are towns in the valleys, a place where a bit of green appears now and again. Seems pretty isolated.
As the plane descends, we are closer to mountaintops, maybe that is shrubery green I can see? More farmlands and a big valley. From my seat, I cannot see downtown Santiago, but there is the smog of which I've heard!
Our room was not ready at Hotel Plaza San Francisco, which is in the center city. So tired as we are, we walk a bit. Our hotel is on a wide main street with several names...General O'Higgins, Libertador, Alameda. Pick your map! We walk toward the east via a pedestrian street. Super crowded on a Thursday.
We reach Plaza De Armas. Artists are set up, big pieces, nothing for the tourist to pack for home. I don't know the story (yet) about the statue holding its own head.
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| post office |
On one side of the Plaza is Iglesia Catedral, also known as Metropoloitan Cathedral on some maps. It took 151 years to build, 1748-1899. So it had different architects and rather eclectical style in the end. It is pretty.
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| iglesia catedral & jim |
Another side of the Plaza has Central Post Office, which was a former resident for Presidents and Governors, build in 1882.
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| iglesia catedral |
And then I'm trying to find a Yarn Shop. So...I have no spanish skills, and I'm looking for something a bit obscure. I learned the word for wool...lana. But that didn't help much. I got a map with several places circled by the tourist office. Hmm...no shops there. I went into a knitted sweater shop, and learned that yarn is called hilado, and received another couple of circles on my map. But still...couldn't find any. What I did learn in the process though, is that most of the shops are really stalls inside huge galleria buildings. There are no shop "names". Some of the galleries seem to have unifying themes...like salons and jewelry. But I haven't found one yet with yarn. I'm still going to look another day!
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| santiago street |
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| iglesia de san francisco, santiago |
Getting back to the hotel, super tired! Our room has a view of the clock tower of Iglesia de San Francisco. Another pretty interior, it is the oldest construction of the city, the main building since 1586. Contrast that building with the contemporary steel and glass in our room view...such is Santiago, old colonial and contemporary altogether.
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| from our hotel room, tops of 2 different eras |
But this was just Day 1 impressions!
Night 1...we decided that the menu in our hotel dining room was too intriguing, and we were right! For foodies...we started with abalone appetizer, abalone that is so precious in US now was minced and sliced in 3 different ways that were amazing! We then had fish...Amberjack and Hake. Both prepared with delicious and unusual sides...hats off to the cuisine of Santiago.
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