Visiting Santiago |
  Above is a Panoramic view of Santiago Chile, one of South America’s safest and most beautiful capitals. Santiago is located right in the center of the country, and is famous for its tall buildings such as the high rise apartments seen to the right. |
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| Santiago is also one of the most modern cities in South America along with Sao Paulo Brazil and Buenos Aires Argentina. Currently under construction in Chile is the Costanera Center which will include commercial space and several towers, one of which will reach 980 feet making it the tallest structure in South America. Above are two photos of Santiago’s subway system that is used to transport the areas nearly 6.5 million people. The subway here is very cheap and efficient, but surprisingly it was the cleanest one I’ve ever used. |
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| Chile’s capital was founded by the Spanish Conqueror Pedro De Valdivia, who arrived to the area in 1541. Soon after his arrival, fighting began between Valdivia and the Native Americans living in the area. The battle was a victory for Valdivia, who finished it by conquering the small hill known today was St. Lucia, and later used this same location to officially found the city of Santiago. Today St. Lucia is a very popular place to visit in Santiago, and has dozens of memorials, parks, and vantage points throughout the hill. On the left is a photo of a large fountain which is near the main entrance to St. Lucia, on the right is another photo of a viewpoint further up the hill. |
  These two photos taken above and on the right are also from St. Lucia. The hill of St. Lucia is very rocky and steep that is covered with unique plants and many memorials. On the left is a strange flower I saw growing off of a tree branch, on the right is an unmarked statue of a soldier that must be dedicated to those who helped defend Santiago several hundred years ago. |
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| Above are photos from Plazas de Armas in Santiago. Plazas de Armas are found in many South American cities and are their downtown square, usually surrounded by government and religious buildings. On the left are two policemen on horseback with the main cathedral in the background, on the right are shoppers and tourists going about their day. |
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| The church seen on the left is known as the church of San Francisco, and is considered to be Chile’s oldest building. Though severally The church seen on the left is known as the church of San Francisco, and is considered to be Chile’s oldest building. Though severally damaged numerous times in earthquakes throughout its history, the church has always been rebuilt from its early days in the 16th century to the major earthquake of 1960. Inside is a museum providing lots of history and artifacts from the church. In 1998, San Francisco church was also labeled a world heritage sit |
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| The purpose of my second trip to Chile was to climb South America’s highest mountain of Aconcagua located a few hours away in Argentina. After the climb I returned to Santiago to do some shopping with a friend I made and went to Santiago’s nicest district. On the left you can see its almost like entering an amusement park, with signs pointing to the different districts and attractions. On the right is the main area of the shopping district known as Acrauco. |
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| The downtown area I was at had plenty of bars and places for night life, and I did go out with some friends I met later on during this trip, but honestly I felt like most of the hostels here in Chile were crazy enough. The photo on the upper left is a hostel that I spent a lot of time at, each night they would have a different theme with an overwhelming amount of alcohol served, one thing they certainly lacked though was ice cream! I took that photo in the shopping district of Santiago, and for whatever reason a young man working in the store didn’t want me taking photos of their ice cream. |
