Santiago to Chillán

Well the time has come to start our journey south. We spent a morning at Parquemet in Santiago where we visited the statue of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Concepción which also provides a magnificent view of the city. Zawadi and Muffy have expressed a great interest in the nature of street art in Chile. The graffiti has a distinct local feel to it, part political, very expressive. One thing we noticed was the armoured vehicles with water canons at the ready outside the parliament. But that said, we felt safe in walking around Santiago.

Chillán is a town which has a more rural feel, and has an unusually styled church which was built in 1941. The Cathedral de Chillán was built following earthquakes and as a memorial to those who died previously. The arches are designed to resist the shaking. As always in Chile, the church sits on one side of the town square, along with municipal buildings, fire station, school, theatre, shops and a bank. Standard fare here.Read more