We arrived early at Santiago Bus terminal at 6:30am, after a surprisingly smooth trip. We managed to get another card to use the public transport and immediately headed east on the metro to El Golf, right in the heart of the business district, where Fred and Eddie live.

 

Fred and Laurence used to travel together as University representatives and became great friends following a two-week tour around Brazil and Argentina. Fred welcomed us with the BEST breakfast sandwich and some freshly brewed coffee – a real treat! We were then shown to our room, which resembled that of a 5* hotel, with a welcome card, individual wash bags, mineral water and chocolates on the bedside table!

Refreshed and accompanied by a very excited Fred, we headed out to catch the 10am “Santiago Offbeat” Tour for Tips – the same company we’d used in Valparaiso. The tour would take us through four of Santiago’s open-air markets (El Mercado Central, Tirso de Molina, La Vega Chica and La Vega Central), before heading north to the General Cemetery, Chile’s oldest, biggest and most important cemetery.

We started in the Mercado Central, a wonderful old building with a cast-iron roof, which houses numerous fresh fish stands and restaurants. It’s listed in National Geographic as one of the top 10 markets in the world and vendors sell everything from barnacles to king crab – we asked which the best restaurant was, making a note to return for lunch!

We then headed north, across River Mapocho, to Mercado Tirso de Molina and the La Vega food markets. La Vega Central was dedicated to all things meat, with various restaurants attached. As impressive as La Mercado Central but it didn’t quite seem to have the same buzz and the building wasn’t as impressive architecturally.

We finished our gastro-tour in La Vega Chica, a vast colourful network of fresh fruit and vegetable stands. “Wally” explained that, as a regular, he would always go to the same stand to buy his fruit and vegetables, since the loyalty would earn better produce and cheaper prices. Any breach of that loyalty and all perks would be lost.

Wally pointed out a number of Peruvians with their own stands selling Peruvian produce. Apparently, this is a relatively recent development, due to the growing popularity of Peruvian cuisine, which is altogether more flavorsome and diverse, compared to Chilean food.

Our final stop on the tour was the General Cemetery, an enormous space equivalent to over 100 football pitches housing many millions of tombs.

It was an interesting place because all religions seemed to be buried there and, as in the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, there was a clear tomb hierarchy. We started with the most humble ones – simple squares in the walls – admiring some of the most decorated spaces, which typically represented local heroes and child saints. Locals would come to prey at their tombs, leaving plaques commemorating miracles as testament to their saint status.

We then walked around the wealthier part of the cemetery, where rich families would show-off their status by building the most ridiculous pavilions, often copying famous architectural structures from all over the globe, including the Taj Mahal, the Sacre Coeur or a Maya Temple.

During that visit, we were given a long history about the military coup d’etat in September 1973, which lead to the removal of Allende and the start of the dictatorship of Pinochet. It’s very interesting to learn how divided the country is about this topic and depending on which side they are on, you will get two very different versions of the story.

For lunch we headed straight back to Mercado Central and installed ourselves at Donde Augusto. We had machas a la parmesana (fast becoming our favourite), fresh breaded squid and pastel de jaiba (a delicious Chilean specialty consisting of king crab mixed with cream and parmesan) – everything was delicious!

After lunch we joined the afternoon tour, which was focused on the sights of Santiago, the history of Chile and its politics. We were whisked around the city, stopping at various monuments along the way, including the Mondea Palace, which, during the military coup d’etat, was bombed by the Chilean military at the request of the army. Interestingly, Allende was removed from the building later that day. He was dead and had two bullet holes in him, supposedly having committed suicide. The jury is out.

We enjoyed the new cultural center, with its big fish and the ‘hand’ door handles, which Pinochet had made when in power to represent submission. After his departure, they were turned the other way around.

We learned a lot about the stray dogs, which are quite present all around Chile. They are actually quite smart and wait for the green light to cross the street and even take the city buses! Another funny anecdote was the story of the “cafes con piernas”. Some immigrant Italians, upset at how poor business was in their café, discovered that the best way to incentivize people (men) to drink their coffee was to employ the service of sexy girls with short skirts and high heels (hence the name ‘coffee with legs’). These cafes still exist, albeit with varying degrees of services on offer!

Exhausted, we headed home for diner with Fred and Eddie and spent a lovely evening catching up and chatting on the terrace. They (well, their cleaner!) had prepared “Aji de galina”, a typical Peruvian dish prepared with chicken, spices, cream and cheese – we can see why the Chileans are embracing Peruvian food. We then enjoyed our best night’s sleep of our trip so far, no doubt helped by all of the walking and some white wine.

After a delicious breakfast of eggs, sausages and peanut butter sandwiches (in L’s case), we headed to the funicular to climb Cerro San Cristobal for some panoramic views of the city.

Fred made us try the typical drink “mote”, a very sweet drink, which consists of a whole peach submerged in a sweet peach juice, with barley. It was a bizarre combination but actually tasted very good, once diluted with some fizzy water!

At the top of the hill L became the star attraction with the local kids, who, no doubt attracted by her beautiful smile, approached her to ask her how to say certain words in English.

Delighted with our whirlwind 24 hours in Santiago, we said our goodbyes and caught a cab to the airport to catch our flight to Calama, in Northern Chile.

Next stop: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile (the desert!)

Highlights:

• Catching up with Fred and spending quality time with the 2 Eddies!
• The infectious buzz of the markets, particularly Mercado Central and all that delicious fish
• Wally and his tours, a great way to see the city
• The views from Cerro San Cristobal

Gasto Highlights:

• Fred’s breakfasts, seriously you should start a café!
• Pastel de Jaiba