This morning we boarded a plan headed to Santiago, Chile. We had decided to skip the rental car for this part of the trip, so we needed transportation to our lodging. Our ride-of-choice tends to be Uber, but there was a slight problem with that here in Santiago. Ride services like Uber are against the law. But, that doesn’t stop them from running. So, we had to walk to one end of the parking area, through a gauntlet of taxi drivers wanting our business, to get to a specific area where Uber drivers pick people up. There we connected with a driver from another transportation service who offered to match the Uber price. In retrospect we should not have connected with a driver in such an informal way, but things worked out just fine.
Santiago is the capital of Chile and also its largest city. It was founded by Spanish conquerors in 1541, and has been the capital ever since. The city was destroyed during an attack from indigenous tribes shortly after it was founded, but it was slowly rebuilt.
Our lodging was located on the edge of two popular barrios in Santiago, Providencia (upscale, popular with tourists) and Bellavista (more known for it’s nightlife). It was a great area to stay in and was close to a number of sights we wanted to see, as well as being just a short walk away from the Metro subway system.
The original plan was to crash for a while after our flight, but we just kept going after grabbing some lunch. Our first stop was the Funicular, which is cable driven pair of carriages that travel up and down a hillside track at 45 degrees. Very, very touristy, but we were there and wanted to experience it.
Musician along the track 
Funicular station at top of hill 
Our destination was the peak of Cerro San Cristobal, which is a large hill centrally located in Santiago. The top of the hill is home to a large metropolitan park, The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a chapel.
There are some great views of the city from the peak. These pictures had to be significantly dehazed. The city of Santiago has major issues with smog because it’s in a valley, has lots of traffic, doesn’t get a huge amount of rain, etc.
The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception includes the statue of Mary with a tiny chapel in the base, amphitheater seating where weekly services are held, and a number of small niches where people can meditate and pray. There are also a number of sculptures and unique crosses in the surrounding gardens. Very beautiful.
Mary 
Tiny chapel 
Memorial wall 
Amphitheater
The small chapel on the grounds is very beautiful on the outside, and holds some amazing treasures on the inside. At first I thought the works of art on the walls were paintings, until I took a closer look and realized they were actually carved into the walls. The pictures can’t do them justice…they are truly amazing.
After checking out the sights, we went in search of dinner. There are a large number of restaurants in the area, include a collection of higher-end restaurants and shops called Patio Bellavista. The challenge every night was choosing. That being said, I seem to remember we were both exhausted from a very busy day so we settled on pizza, a comfort food of sorts. After dinner we made one of our frequent ice cream stops, and then headed back to Casa Bellavista for some sleep.
Tomorrow is a very busy day. See you then.
Will