Saturday, January 13, 2024
This morning, we had a nice breakfast in an outdoor patio area of the Singular Hotel. We were on our own until 2 pm when Viking had scheduled a bus tour around Santiago for us, to be followed by a transfer to the airport. So, after breakfast, we packed up, took our luggage downstairs for the hotel to store for us, obtained a map of the area, then set out to explore Santiago by foot.
Fortunately, the hotel was in the Lastarria neighborhood, a great location in the city center and only a few blocks from Santa Lucia Hill (Cerro Santa Lucía). This hill, rising about 225 ft. above its surroundings, is the remnants of volcanic activity 15 million years ago. Over the years, what is now a public city park has been a fort, missionary, and observatory. As we entered the free park, an official logged our country of origin for the record. We haphazardly wandered around the hill, sometimes climbing narrow winding stairs and other times exploring level terraces. Along the way, we observed a lot of interesting park features and from both the lower terraces and the top, had good views of Santiago and the Andes Mountains in the distance with a brown smog hanging over it.
 |
| Santiago from the Lower Terrace of Santa Lucía Hill |
 |
| Exploring a Lower Terrace |
 |
| Ornate Seating |
 |
| Pool on a Lower Terrace |
 |
| Jane ready to Start the Next Climb |
 |
| Ascending |
 |
| More Stairs |
 |
| Santiago from atop Santa Lucía Hill |
 |
| Panoramic View of Santiago with the Andes Mountains in the Background |
 |
| Young Money Puzzle Tree (Auracaria auracaria) |
 |
| Back on a Lower Terrace |
 |
| The Main Entrance |
 |
| Commemorative Cannon |
 |
| One of Two Forts on the Hill |
 |
| Statue of an Indigenous Mapuche |
 |
| Decorative Urn on the Hill |
After descending from Santa Lucía Hill, we followed our map toward the Pre-Columbian Art Museum. By a fortunate coincidence, we passed through the Plaza de Armas. This plaza was founded in 1541 when the Spanish conquistadors were laying out the street grid for Santiago. The Plaza de Armas still remains the heart of the city and is surrounded by beautiful 19th century edifices. We spontaneously decided to tour the inside of the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral. The cathedral and complex of associated buildings were built between 1748 and 1906. We walked down the ornately decorated central nave and inspected the altar and apse. Before exiting the cathedral, we ducked into the equally impressive chapel. After egressing into the bright sunlight, we continued our museum search.
 |
| Santiago’s Central Post Office |
 |
| Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral |
 |
| Central Nave |
 |
| Artwork adorning the Metro Cathedral Ceiling |
 |
| Chapel in the Metro Cathedral |
After departing the Plaza de Armas, we walked a block or so and found the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombiano). After paying a modest entrance fee, we were in awe as we wondered three fabulous floors of amazing artifacts. Wow! We got immersed in the museum’s thousands of displayed pieces covering about 10,000 years and covering a myriad of pre-Columbian cultures that inhabited Central and South America. We both were impressed by the quality, skill, technical prowess, and creativity expressed in the works we saw and would like to learn more about this period of history. Unfortunately, we felt an urgency to rush through this museum in order to most efficiently use our limited time in Santiago.
Posted below are some photos of displays we saw. Apologies that they are unlabeled and not in any chronological or cultural order, but they do convey the variety and wonder of the displays that we were fortunate to experience in this unique museum.
 |
| Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art |
After emerging from our engaging museum experience, we wandered back to the Singular Hotel via a long route in order to stroll through an urban park, Parque Forestal. After leaving the park, our journey was slightly delayed because across from the hotel, we encountered Emporio la Rosa, an ice cream parlor purported to have Santiago’s best ice cream. After enjoying our treats on a shaded outdoor bench, we proceeded across the street to the Singular Hotel.
 |
| Walking Path through Parque Forestal |
 |
| Monument to Christopher Columbus |
 |
| Section of an Outdoor Jade Plant Garden |
 |
| Time for Ice Cream – Emporio la Rosa |
 |
| Familiar and Exotic Ice Cream Choices |
 |
| Shaded Benches to Enjoy Ice Cream |
 |
| Exterior of Singular Santiago Hotel |
 |
| Singular Lobby and Front Desk |
 |
| More of the Lower Level of the Singular Hotel |
After checking on things in the hotel, we decided we had time for a quick visit to the Fine Arts Museum which was only a few blocks away on the edge of Parque Forestal. The Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes) is located in a magnificent building dating to 1910 and constructed to commemorate the first centennial of Chile’s independence. Although we didn’t have much time to inspect the art, we were more impressed by the splendor of the building than the artwork it contained.
 |
| National Museum of Fine Arts |
 |
| Two Caryatids on the Second-floor Balcony providing Structural Support |
 |
| The Museum’s Grand Hall |
 |
| Jane & Modren Art |
We hurried from the art museum back to the Singular Hotel to find its lobby full of fellow Viking travelers waiting for the 2 pm bus for our city tour. Onboard the bus with our stowed luggage, Jane and I sat in elevated seats at the very rear. We wound through various sections of downtown as our local guide rapidly spouted information about the places we passed. It was entertaining at the time but was too much information delivered too quickly to absorb much. After a while, we disembarked at Parque Bicentenary (Bicentennial Park), one of the city’s largest parks located in the Vitacura municipality. Jane and I walked the whole perimeter of the park observing families enjoying the beautiful weekend day, relaxing, picnicking and, of course kicking soccer balls. There was a large water feature in the park where we were able to observe lots of water birds of different species.
 |
| Torre Costanera |
 |
| Bicentennial Park (Parque Bicentenario) |
 |
| Food Vendor in the Park |
 |
| Flowering Jacaranda Tree |
 |
| Civic Center of the Local Municipality, Vitacura |
 |
| Bird Lagoon (Laguna de las Aves) |
 |
| Aquatic Plants |
 |
| Black-necked Swans |
 |
| White Egret |
 |
| Mestizo, a popular Restaurant on the Edge of the Park
After Bicentennial Park, we continued riding the bus through parts of the city accompanied by a stream of commentary. Then, we disembarked at the Plaza de Armas that Jane and I had visited earlier this morning on foot. The plaza was certainly more crowded this Saturday afternoon and I strolled around the plaza a couple of times observing the activities. I think our Viking group was getting tired because, I was the last to board the bus although there were still a few minutes left before our designated departure time.
|
 |
| Church of Divine Providence (Iglesia de la Divina Providencia) |
 |
| Monument to South American Independence Hero Simon Bolivar |
 |
The National History Museum
(Museo Histórico Nacional) |
 |
| The Metro Cathedral reflected in High-rise Building Windows |
 |
Momument to the Indigenous People by Enrique E. Villalobos
(Monumento a los Pueblos Indigenas) |
 |
| Our Tour Bus parked in front of the Central Post Office |
After more site-seeing from the bus windows, our last tour stop was Constitution Plaza (Plaza de la Constitucion). We disembarked, and at one corner of the plaza, our guide described the various government buildings surrounding the plaza. The largest most prominent one was Palacio de La Moneda, that now serves as the Presidential Seat. Our guide also pointed out the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights building where President Salvador Allende died during a coup d’etat supported in part by the U.S. government under President Nixon. We then wandered around the plaza taking pictures before boarding the bus for our trip to the airport.
 |
| Palacio de La Moneda, the Presidential Seat |
 |
| Palacio de La Moneda – Front Entrane |
 |
| Santiago Government (Gobierno De Santiago) Building |
 |
Monument to Salvador Allende Gossens in front of the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Building
(Ministero de Justicia y Derechos Humanos) |
|
 |
| Monument to Pedro Aguirre Cerda, the Education Governor |
Our bus arrived at Santiago International Airport (SCI, aka New Pudahuel Airport) around 5 pm but we couldn’t check our bags in until 6:30 and our flight wasn’t scheduled to depart until 10:30 pm. So, Jane guarded our bags while I wandered around, went to the restroom, and exchanged money to have some Chilean pesos to take home. Eventually, we checked our luggage and received our boarding passes. After clearing security, we immediately found a California Pizza where we leisurely enjoyed a pizza and beer dinner, lingering to while away some time. Later, while we were waiting at the departure gate, airport officials set up an impromptu security area, so that all passengers on our flight to the U.S. went through another security check before boarding. Once aboard, we had nice seats and the 7.5 hour flight to Miami went smoothly.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
At the Miami International Airport (MIA) in the wee hours of the morning, we claimed our bags and rechecked them to RDU. We found an early-opening restaurant for a sit-down breakfast; the meal was filling but not very tasty. After more airport waiting, Jane and I sat across the aisle from each other as we completed, the final MIA-RDU leg of our journey. At RDU, we claimed our luggage and then took an Uber ride home in a Tesla (a first of us). Despite the epic journey we had experienced, as usual, it was great to be home again. However, we missed the normal greeting from our cat, Zorro who is staying with Aunt Lisa and won’t arrive back home for another week.
 |
| Santiago International Airport |
 |
| Chilean Pesos, Obverse |
 |
| Chilean Pesos, Reverse |
