August- Week 1- Chile, Day 2 (Santiago)

We all enjoyed sleeping in a little, ate breakfast, showered, and left the house around 10:30am.  We picked up one of my dad's co-workers, named Jonathan Bilbao, so he could be our tour guide around Santiago for the day.  We had to take two cars everywhere we went and found that trying to keep the two cars close together so we wouldn't get lost was kinda crazy.  I was so glad I never had to take a turn driving.  It's just like driving in any other busy city, such as New York.  You always kinda fear for your life. ;) 

First, we stopped by Centro de Turismo, a recently renovated jail, and picked up our maps of the city. Here are a few pictures of some of the buildings in the city.  Also, like many other big cities, we saw street performers.  

 We first headed to the Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago.  It's the largest cathedral in Chile and the Pope has visited there many times.  A mass was underway while we were there, so that felt a little awkward to be walking around; I pictured someone walking into one of our chapels and admiring the lobby and cultural hall.  Unlike our buildings, the cathedral was huge and the alters, statues, and stained glass were all so beautiful! 

Wikipedia says the cathedral was completed in 1800, and has had lots of renovations, I'm sure.  But the ceiling has many cracks in it; I wouldn't want to be in there during an earthquake, that's for sure! 

Walking around the city was saw policemen on horses, which I thought the kids might like to see.  

Little reminders of our children back home. :) 

Another interesting thing about Chile, is you sometimes have to pay to use the 'public' restrooms.  Usually no more than a dollar.  And, in some places, the TP was outside the stall so you had to grab as much as you think you'll need before you go in. Kinda risky, if you ask me.

We went to a place called Donde Augusto for lunch which was surrounded by a large fish market.  While we waited for a table to be ready, we walked around and shopped some.  The smells were pretty overpowering at times, which led Dan (who has no sense of smell) to believe that he actually had a "nasal experience"... he said his nose tingled at one point. ;) I guess that's how you describe smelling something to someone who doesn't know how to smell. Weird.

Chicken feet

An octopus

My dad spoiled us SO much while we were down there!  We ordered a KING CRAB!  

It's all about the presentation...and it tasted pretty good, too!

We even got a lovely serenade.  (Isn't my dad stylish?!)

Next, we rode the subway across the city.  We definitely stood out in the crowd.  

Dan was easily a head and shoulders taller than 75% of the people we saw. He was tempted to carry around a basketball to see if people would ask him for autographs.

Next, we went to Santa Lucia. It's a tall hill at the center of the city (Wiki tell us it's the remnant of a volcano 15 million years ago.)  I was also used as a sort of look out/defense post in the years of Conquista (1500s).  Today, it is a beautiful park with tons of stairs, fountains, and ornate facades.

Still thinking of our kids. :) (Spelled differently)

This is only about halfway up.  Cool view already of the city and the Andes mountains in the back.  It was Winter down there and funny thing, they have similar weather inversions like Salt Lake City does during the winter time.  You can see the pollution in the air covering up half the mountains. 

This was all the way at the top.  

(Missing my sister Mickelle who was still at the halfway point.)

From the top we saw a protest going on in the streets below with fires burning, flags waving, and horns blowing.  

Later, my sister got some street art done.  He did this picture of the planets with the Andes mountains all with SPRAYPAINT.  

We stopped by an outdoor tourist flea market and looked around for souvenirs.  Dan and I held off on buying anything since we knew we'd have more opportunities later.  

On the way home, we stopped at a road-side stand to get some Empanadas.  They were quite heavy on the onions, and the meat was a little tough to chew, but the bread was delicious.  

When we got home that night, it seemed like everyone had headaches.  Too much stimulation and fumes from the city?  Who knows, but we all went to bed around 11pm.