Chile Part II – Five Days in Santiago

It’s Sunday afternoon. Hello again my dear blog visitors. I appreciate you stopping over and giving my writing some of your super precious time. I just want to say, I love Sunday afternoons. I usually work on the weekend, but when I happen to be off, I cherish that time greatly. To me Sunday afternoons carry a bit of nostalgia with them. They bring me back to those warm weekend summer days, spend with friends and family, splashing in a pool somewhere or chasing each other barefoot through the soft grass, the sun filtering gently through the trees. Or they bring me back to the cozy winter evenings at home with a cup of hot tea in my hand and great conversations with a friend at the kitchen table…

I hope your Sunday afternoon is just that – a little lazy, a whole lot of cozy and spent with the people and four-legged creatures you love.

I finished the second part of my Chile post. It’s mostly about the few days Monika and I spent in Santiago. If you are not planning a trip anytime soon, you may still like to read about what our days were like in this big city. Or what Cajon de Maipo is. Or see my favorite Pablo Neruda poem and why I recommend visiting his villa.

And if none of these seem that appealing to you, I hope you still scroll down to see the photography and let the images tell my story…

Monia and I decided not to rush anything while we were in Chile. Actually, we have decided that a long time ago about any place we visit. My travel philosophy over the recent years has morphed into a conviction that I rather see fewer things and experience fewer places than to rush like a mad tourist solely for the purpose of crossing a few things off my list. No, thank you. I’m much happier taking my time and enjoying the essence of a place than feeling exhausted from hasty travel. And if this means fewer things seen and experienced, then let it be. This practice has made me a much better traveler and a much better photographer as well.

Thus, it was easy for us to just plan out our days at leisure. To take our time in the mornings, enjoying a cup of coffee and a sweet pastry for breakfast at the local café on the corner…To stroll the streets casually in the afternoon, enjoying the pace of the city on our own terms…To savor our lunch without rushing, people watching and chatting about anything and everything while sipping on a glass of Carmenere.

And yet we did make it a point to experience a few things that were on our Chile travel list. We picked the top few experiences that we deemed worth saving time and money for.

Not in any particular order of significance, here they are:

• Watching the sun rise and set over the Andes Mountains

I’ve mentioned this one already. It was definitely one of my favorite highlights of the trip and it cost us absolutely nothing. There are several venues in the city that make this experience possible, like the visit to Sky Costanera, the tallest building in Santiago. But we got lucky with our rooftop views from our Airbnb (or did we? Come to think of it, I’ve actually preplanned where we would be staying and knew there would be some sort of a rooftop at the apartment building). All we had to do was drag our butts out of bed before sunrise or come back home a little early than planned at the end of the day for sunset and take the elevator to the 24^th floor for the views. I loved watching the vaguely visible outline of the mountain peaks in the distance slowly come to life with different shades of pink and orange, changing the outline’s dimension. It truly was well worth the preplanning efforts.

• Visiting La Chascona, one of the the three of Pablo Neruda’s homes in Chile

 Perhaps you’ve stumbled upon Neruda’s poetry at some point in your academic life, but you didn’t know he was Chilean or that he mostly wrote love poems? I certainly didn’t know these things about him, although I have seen his poems and quotes circulating the internet before. I never read any of his books, although I did find him intriguing. Since coming to Chile, I’ve learned that Neruda was one of the most important and influential writers of the South American continent. I’ve delved into hos work at a much deeper level since returning home.

Here is one of my absolute favorite poems:

 “And that’s why I have to go back

to so many places

there to find myself

and constantly examine myself

with no witness but the moon

and then whistle with joy,

ambling over rocks and clods of Earth,

with no task but to live,

with no family but the road”

Sooo good! Come to think of it, it’s actually not surprising why this poem resonates with me so much 🙂

When we heard that Neruda’s home was opened to visitors and located within the walking distance from our apartment, we decided to make the trip. The mansion itself is an absolute literary delight. You can feel Mr. Neruda’s touch and presence in every corner. Most of the house including the décor, art work and furniture have been preserved very well over the years. He was an art and book collector and every single corner is imbued with Neruda’s personal touch. Even if you are a not a big literary fan or do not care to know about Neruda, this house is worth a visit. It is located in such a quiet corner of the city and surrounded by greenery everywhere that the stopover makes for a very peaceful afternoon hidden away from the city’s chaos.

• Strolling the streets of Bellavista neighborhood

Similar to Neruda’s house, the streets of Bellavista are a quiet retreat from the noise of Santiago. This area is also an excellent location for an Airbnb rental. It’s a safe neighborhood within a walking distance to many restaurants and bars. Most of the cafes have outdoor seating (in the summer at least) and you can spend a pleasant afternoon here, sipping on wine and tasting local empanadas, soaking in the atmosphere and energy of the city. To me, this is one of the best ways to travel – not rushing from one touristy place to the next, but quietly sitting somewhere and intentionally surrendering to the local surroundings.

• Taking the funicular up Cerro San Cristobal and watching the sun set over the city

Funny that this ended up being the most intense moment of our time in Santiago, but I’m actually saving that story for a later post. But I’ll tell you this, it’s the best spot to look over the entire city landscape and the view is worth the trip, especially around sunrise or sunset times (do you start to see the pattern here?) Cerro San Cristobal is the second highest point in the city and you can reach the top via several ways, either by the funicular, by walking, driving or by taking a cable car (but I am not sure if the latter goes all the way to the top). On the summit there is sanctuary and a big statue of Mary the Immaculate Conception. There is also a memorial of John Paul II, who visited the city in 1987 and blessed the city of Santiago. The whole sanctuary is such a perfect site for a quiet prayer, reflection or meditation…And best part is that most people do not stop at the John Paul corner, they gather either at the plaza below or at the feet of the statue of Mary, so you can have this little corner all to yourself and watch the sun set over the city without any interruptions.

• Stopping by a winery for a tasting

No trip to Chile would be complete without visiting a winery or two. We stopped by Casa del Bosque on the way to Valparaiso. The winery is immaculately curated and the wine will not disappoint even the pickiest of wine connoiseurs. Caremenere is the national wine of Chile – deep red wine with just a tint of sweetness, it is one of my favorite wines to date. You can take a short guided tour of the winery with an included wine tasting. I ended up bringing home three bottles and only because I had no more space in my luggage. I am definitely saving these for a special occasion.

• Taking the day trip to Cajon de Maipo

If you’re going to stay in Santiago for more than three days, DO THIS. Hire a guide or a driver for a day, or even rent your own car and make this two hour trip into the outskirts of the Andes mountains. I hear there is also a public transportation way of getting there, a cheaper, albeit a more cumbersome one. Either way, you will not be disappointed. Cajon de Maipo is actually a canyon and a water reservoir. The views are spectacular and you can spend the day here hiking. You won’t believe that this place is within driving distance from Santiago. Standing on the edge of the canyon, with the aquamarine water below you and the jagged mountain peaks surrounding you from every angle, you feel transported back to another place and time. I’ll let my images speak for this one. If I was to come back, I’d plan the trip much earlier in the day, to see how the colors of the mountains change with the rising sun.

And here it is, my five day summary of Santiago de Chile. In the next post, I’ll write about my favorite part of the entire trip, the one I had dreamt for days prior to departure – the one and only San Pedro de Atacama.

“This is the sense of the desert hills, that there is room enough and time enough” – Mary Hunter Austin