Santiago

Santiago, staged at the foot of the dramatic Andes mountain range, is an absolutely huge city, most of it being modern high-rise and sprawl. Over 30% of the country’s population live there (that’s 5 million). Despite it being a mega city, we found it enjoyable, easy to navigate and with ample green spaces. Whilst we tend to prefer more tranquil places, we always try to stay in the capital of a country for a few days, as it offers a good insight into the culture and tone of the country. Here are our travellers’ tips for Santiago and around.

We planned to just pass through the city either side of Easter Island before we headed south to the Chilean Lake District, so we had to pack quite a lot of sightseeing into just 3 days. Staying in the cheaper Barrio Brasil, we used the efficient and cheap (London Underground, you bunch of thieves, take note!) metro system to get about.

Once in the centre, we found that all of these locations were easy enough to walk to…if your feet are up to it of course. We had some tired evenings, but were happy to have ticked all of these places off the list.

Palacio de la Moneda on the Plaza de la Constitución.

We had to take a walk in front of the famous La Moneda presidential palace, once home to the royal mint, now most famous for being the epicentre of the 1973 US backed Pinochet coup – a defining moment in modern Chilean history. As Pinochet’s military bombed the palace, Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected socialist president in the whole of Latin America made his famous last speech, before committing suicide.

“…These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason…”

Plaza de Armas.

The colonial centre of Santiago has several important buildings, including the impressive cathedral and the post office on the Plaza de Armas.

Coffee with legs.

We had read about this strange phenomenon in the guidebook, but had forgotten all about it, until we accidentally ended up having it! Basically it is an anachronistic coffee ritual served by ladies with their legs on display. We didn’t think much of ours (the coffee or the legs), but there are apparently much racier cafes than the one we ended up in, which was in any case mostly attended by octogenarians.

Cerro Santa Lucia.

This hill is where Pedro de Valdivia, founder of Santiago (1541), defeated the indigenous army. It is now a quaint pleasure park with panoramic city views.

Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos. 

This important museum is testimony to the censorship, repression, human rights abuses, murders and disappearances during the Pinochet regime.

Mercado Central & La Vega market.

Mercado Central is a metal structure fabricated in Birmingham, UK. It contains a fresh fish market and a delightful array of marisquerías. We had a good little lunch here and then wandered across the River Mapocho to take a look at the vast La Vega market, which is a lively less touristy market for locals. If you are a regular reader then you know that we love markets, and this one was especially good for the amount of cats hard at work!

Pablo Neruda’s house La Chascona

Famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda had one of his residences in Santiago. Originally built to house his mistress Matilde Urrutia (who would become his third and final wife), it is now a museum. La Chascona means ‘the messy haired one’, his nickname for Matilde. Neruda died just days after the Pinochet coup and the regime was quick to ransack his houses in Chile due to him having been an important figure in socialist and government circles. Matilde continued to live there after his death and she became an important voice for human rights in Chile.

Cerro San Cristóbal

We fought a crowd of tourists to take the long acensor up to the top of this hill for some good views of the city. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy/smoggy, so the views of the Andes weren’t all that clear. The hill used to be barren, but it now has mature planting and even a zoo.

Outside of Santiago

On our way to Santiago from Valparaíso we also managed to see some further sights, both within close reach of both cities.

Pablo Neruda’s house, Isla Negra

Probably the most impressive of Pablo Neruda’s 3 houses is Isla Negra. It is not actually on an island, but it was where the poet felt he was isolated from the world. It is called Black Island due to the colour of the rocks. Built in places like the galley of a ship and others like a train carriage, the self-proclaimed land captain’s long and winding house is decorated in his typical nautical style and contains many curiosities from around the world. Your could spend days in there and always see something new. Isla Negra is also home to his extensive collection of shells.

Casablanca wine valley

Casablanca is a fairly young area, having only been set up in the 1980s. Due to the success of the Napa Valley in California, experts were searching for another productive area. The most common wines made here are Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère. There is an interesting story about Carmenère; it was originally a French variety which was sold to Chile as a Cabernet Sauvignon. When a disease wiped out the variety in France, it was thought to be lost. It was only during the 1990s that it was discovered that the Cabernet Sauvignon in Chile was actually the lost Carmenère. Of course it is now a Chilean Carmenère, and this is something that the wineries are trying to promote as a unique selling point.

We had a tour and tasting in 2 wineries in the Casablanca wine region: Emiliana and Indomita.

The beautiful Emiliana winery is different from other larger producers in Chile because it is certified organic. This means that they do not use pesticides, herbicides and non organic fertilisers, instead ‘employing’ some of the animal kingdom to assist. They have good old-fashioned chickens (98 to be precise) and ladybirds which gobble up the pests and parasites. The resident alpacas provide some good fertiliser for the soil. There is also more space between the vines and other vegetation is allowed to grow, providing a place for the good insects to flourish, preventing erosion and improving soil quality. They also have plants like lavender planted in ‘biological corridors’ which again provide habitat for insects but also act as a first warning if there are any diseases threatening the crop. Olive trees throughout the vineyard are supposed to catch dust and possible fungus/disease on their oily skins.

The vineyard also employs biodynamic theories which initially we were sceptical about, thinking that they were just some hippie nonsense! Apparently though, some of the practices are based on empirical evidence. For example vines are pruned by the cycles of the moon so that only the minimum amount of sap is lost. We remain unconvinced about the efficacy of burying a cow’s horn in the earth though!

Our wines in Emiliana were paired with cheeses and chocolates- happy days!

Emiliana’s wines were made in a different part of Chile, so we also wanted to visit Indomita where everything was done on site. It couldn’t have been a more different experience as we looked on in awe at the huge steel vats. Our tasting here was just of wine, and although the wines were nice, we both felt that Emiliana’s were better. From that point on Emiliana became our wine of choice in Chile, and at about £3.50 a bottle it didn’t break the bank either.

From having just imagined the Santiago area as a portal to Easter Island, the Lake District and further south to Patagonia, we were surprised and greatly entertained by the variety of sights and activities available. Could we have filled a few more days? We’re not sure, but we certainly left feeling like we’d made the most of the region.