Norton Maza - El RaptoTemporary exhibition at the Museo de Bellas Artes
There was an organic market outside the museum that attracted Laurence like a bee from honey. We spent a bit of time there and headed towards the Plaza de Armas, which is the central square from the city. It is a very nice square surrounded by the cathedral and the "usual" conquistadores statues.
We then walked to the "Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino". We were fascinated by the numerous native civilisation and the sophistication of their craftsmanship.
Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
From there, we took a cab (or rather tried to...) to the funicular that is leading up to Cerro San Cristobal, the famous hill were the big virgin Mary statue sits. For whatever reason, the taxi led us to the wrong entrance (the entrance for cars) which was about 3km from the base of the funicular. We then decided to use our feet and walked about 1h and 30min up the hill. This was a good hike (not very well signed) with about 300m uphill where we met a new Zealander that was travelling around the globe. When we arrived, we had only one wish, which was to seat on the steps below this imposant statue. There were a lot of worshippers going up the hill on that day (we were on Easter Sunday) and we realised later that it was a very good choice to hike up because of the long queue to access the funicular.
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After refreshing ourselves at the hotel and having a short break at the bar, we decided to go out to discover the area around it. The location of our hotel (http://www.thesingular.com/santiago/lastarria/) was very central (in Lastarria). We walked in the area and found the pedestrian passage "Jose Vittorio Lastarria" vibrant with restaurants, small shops and bars. We continues our walk to Cerro Santa Lucia, a communal park set on a hill with a beautiful view from the city. It was a nice way to relax after our long flight and take a breather.
We then crossed the river and walked to Barrio Bellavista which was about 10-15min walk from our hotel. We discovered a bustling area with bars, restaurants and art galleries. Even the walls were painted with very artistic graffitis.
We hoped that we could still visit "La Chascona", the former home of poet Pablo Neruda and now the home of his foundation. It was a very entertaining experience, we loved the 1950' original furniture and the story that surrounded him and his wife during the difficult political changes through which Chile went.
La ChasconaPablo Neruda's house in Santiago
We went back to our hotel to rest a little before heading for diner to a local restaurant (http://www.mulato.cl/). We enjoyed the food (the fish in particular was really good) but started to feel the effect of the trip. We headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep.
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