BBQ wineglass stand
The final few days are upon us. Sunday 18th is Indpependence day in Chile, with Monday a national holiday. It celebrates Chile’s declaration of independence from Spain in 1810. Lots of flags are on show. We went to a barbecue with Trish and Todd and family with a group of other English-speakers who live in Santiago and their families. Great company, good wine, fine food, mild weather, no masses of biting insects. Altogether a very pleasant evening.
Statue of the Immaculate Conception, Santiago
Monday was a public holiday, and with little traffic on the roads for a couple of days the air was relatively clear, so we took the opportunity to visit the Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, which occupies a hill on the north side of the city centre. The peak features a large ‘statue of the immaculate conception’ (this is, after all, a deeply Catholic country) and has some good panoramic views over the city (when the smog allows). We took the funicular to the top. The air temperature peaked around 30°C so walking up was not on the agenda.
Santiago views
Afterwards we wandered back to the car through the streets of Bellavista, enjoying the plentiful street art.
Street art, Bellavista
Street art, Bellavista
Las Domenicos Artisan Markets – Insectorium
The next excursion was to the Artisan market at Los Dominicos. Fascinating place with a huge diversity of arts and crafts as well as a bonsai garden and insectorium. Lots of diversity – weaving, knitting, alpaca wool clothing, paintings, photos, pottery, jewellery, pewter work, wood and stone carving, … lots to see and do. And they had interesting coffee with a multi-layered appearance. Very clever.
Las Domenicos Artisan Markets: interesting layering of coffee.
Qing Dynasty armour, exhibition from the Forbidden City
Next day, some packing then another trip into the city for more exploration. Among other things we found an exhibition of Qing dynasty treasures from the Forbidden City.
And then it was time to finish packing and head to the airport — 25 h door to door with a 13 h time shift. Hopefully the jetlag will be easier this way round.
More photos at https://goo.gl/photos/sCcKwdd7yN5WiCX88