Santiago in a Day

First things first, a lot of things are closed on Monday, but it is a great day to do a walking tour and orient yourself with the city. I took mine with Strawberry Tours and our much smaller English group walked around with Vanesa, who had lots to share about Santiago's history and didn't rush us at all. (You also get Chilean candy if you answer questions ;)

The Strawberry Tour site lists all your spots, so you can easily remember where you went. You do have to book a spot - it's free though, and works on a tip basis, with 10% of their tips earned going to a local charity to help seniors. We met at Universidad Catolica metro station where we embarked on a near 4 hour walk to the following: GAM, Lasterria neighborhood, Cerra Santa Lucia, La Moneda, the church of San Agustin, Plaza Armas and more!

After the tour, we went to the Central Market for a late lunch. My seafood paella was okay, but I do recommend you try the Chilean seafood chowder, very tasty! Then it was off to catch the teleferico or cable car up to Cerro San Cristobal. Of course, it being Monday, the teleferico was closed, after we made a long detour from the metro and walked about 45 minutes. Yikes, so now you're warned. Instead, we decided to go back through Providencia to the metro to catch the funicular up for city views and to visit the statue of the Immaculate Conception that overlooks Santiago.

Getting there was a lot easier. You take the metro to Baquedano, then walk straight along Pio Nono through Bellavista right up to the park entrance. You can hike up with you wish, but giving we've been on our feet for hours, the 2000 peso round trip funicular ticket was a no brainer (that's about $4 CAD).

Up top, the views are stunning, you see all of Santiago stretched out before you before the Andes in the far distance. And you realize just how widespread this city of 7 million is. A mere 24 hours barely scratches the surface. For those of you considering Sky Costenara, the highest tower in Latin America (15,000 pesos or $30 CAD), this option is much better, unless you just want to say you've been up that tower.

It's evening hours now, and Bellavista is a hopping place to be to wander and grab some dinner. I took a quick peek through Patio Bellavista and do recommend checking it out. It's got some neat shops, a cool ice cream shop (Mist which serves rolled ice cream) and several restaurants. Why didn't I stay? Well, I wasn't quite hungry yet, and I was determined to go back to Emporio La Rosa which we passed earlier in the day to sample a top 25 gelato place as named by The Daily Meal.

The ice cream was good, I ended up getting the Lemon Pie and Lucuma which is one of Chile's national fruits. Then it was off to find El Rapido, which a co-worker had recommended for empanadas. I have to say, it is a bit of challenge when the menu has no English, but that's how we tell it's local right? Thankfully with the help of a local, I was able to pick out my empanadas and drag my very very tired feet back to the hotel for this simple dinner.Read more