Santiago, Chile

Day 3 Sun., June 10: Santiago:
I took my 2nd free historical walking tour Sunday morning Jose was a good guide and there were just 2 of us on the tour. There are frequent almost daily manifestations (demonstrations, sometimes quite violent with police) around Santiago. There was an effigy in Lastarria representing the “Me, Too” movement.
Lastarria Neighourhood Flag Ride Hill of Santa Lucia
Church of San Agustin Gam, Cultural Center Gabriela Mistral
La Moneda Palace Old Stock Exchange Palace of Courts of Justics
Main Square Municipal Theatre Former National Congress
Santiago Metropoitan Cathedral
I did see some of these sites the first day but that was okay with me. Lastarria Neighourhood is an neighbourhood in which their art and culture offers even one of the 10 best ice cream stores in the world (Heladerio Emporio La Rosa is a local chain but started in Lastarria). Both tours told us about “cafes with legs”. As it turns out, coffee is/was not a popular drink in Chile; it was tea. So when Haitians came in and opened coffee shops they couldn’t attract customers. So, they came up with the idea of having the waitresses or servers clad in short outfits with lots of legs showing. Thus, the “café with legs” and they have now evolved into some being for men only and have blackened windows so you can’t see in. I did visit the free National History Museum on my own.
The headless statue in Pic 5 is a monument to the Indigenous People, to their heroism and courage found in Plaza De Armas. But, why is his head in his hands?
Pictures: 1-effigy in Lastarria 2-3: Santa Lucia Hill 4-statue of 2 presidents from 1800’s 5-headless statue 6-Gam Cultural center (little more later)Read more