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I woke, as is usual, with the birds at 6:30am. Made a leisurely breakfast of toast and coffee, and went out for some solo touring a little after 9:30am, just after S & C surfaced. My first target was ‘La Chascona’, the Santiago home of Pablo Neruda, one of the greats of 20th Century poetry. The house is located in the Bella Vista district, at the foot of Cerro San Christobal. The walk there took me past Cerro Santa Lucia, and the ornate Neptune Terrace, then through the Parc Forestal and across the muddy Mapucho River to Bella Vista. The area is home to many restaurants (which were seting up for the day), and is also the University district, and thronged with students. The air was pleasantly cool. I had a pleasant hour wandering through ‘La Chascona’ (5000 Pesos, photos outside only please), visiting the various rooms, including the Captain’s Bar and narrow Dining Room, with its secret passage upstairs to Mathilde’s office and bedroom, the fine ‘lighthouse’ living room, with curved windows looking to the mountains. The house straggles up the slope, where an exterior living area includes a stone mosaic, and leads to the ‘Summer Bar’ and the poet’s library and office. The house is packed with items collected by Neruda and Mathilde during their lives, often with a nautical theme (astrolabes, the wave patterned edges of the Captain’s Bar), as Neruda loved the sea. There are many artworks, furniture (particularly by Piero Fornasetti), and mementos of the poet’s work, including books and letters, and his awards, including the Novel Prize for Literature, the French Legion of Honour and the Soviet Union’s Order of Lenin. The tour is self-guided, with an audio set.
Afterward, walking back back through the University district I was befriended by ‘students’ handing out poetry and asking for money. They were friendly, and not too disappointed when I had none to give. There were also students seemingly involved in commencement hi-jinks, with flour in their hair, or carrying flour bombs. Some statues had been ‘striped’ with duct tape, perhaps as part of these activities. Back in the city, the narrow sidewalks were crowded along Calle Moneda, and the sun was warm. Shaded sides of the street were favoured. I took a break in the ‘Gelato Café’ and cooled off with sorbet (2 flavours for 1800 Pesos – mango and cherry). Next destination was the palace of La Moneda, where I failed to find the Museo Memoria, but stepping into the Cultural Centre, now under the square behind the palace. Instead I found an exhibition on Islamic Art, and of native pottery.
In the square in front of La Moneda, a demonstration was going on in front of the Ministry of Justice, where a group of people stood holding signs. Reporters were gathered around, as were numerous police in khaki uniforms. In the rest of the square, people went on with their lunchtime business, sitting on benches or on the grass under shady trees. I took an hour to look through the Precolumbian Museum (3500 pesos), with an impressive collection of artefacts from ‘Chile before Chile’, in a sepulchral space deep beneath the building, and also upstairs, collections from the many pre-colonial cultures of Latin America, from pottery to stonemasonry and metalwork. The Moche copper masks were particularly good.
I returned to the apartment for a rest, walking via Cathedral Metropolitan and the Plaza Armas, which was thronged with caricaturists and residents out shopping. Stoped for cake and cappuccino in the delightfully odd Café Colonia, which was of all things a German coffee house, serving rich cakes and strudel. Afternoon tea cost 4300 Pesos for chocolate cake and coffee. Most odd were the matronly ‘heritage’ wait staff!
After ‘happy hour’ of wine, cheese, grapes and salami, we walked the length of Calle Moneda to Bario Brasil, and to Las Vacas Gordas, the fine steak restaurant we had tried in 2008 on our last transit through Santiago. Despite it being Friday night, the restaurant was not crowded at 7pm, and we had no trouble securing a table. We began with Pisco Sours, and ate delicious tender steaks (or in Stephen’s case brochette), with chips. Mine must have been special, because it came with eggs. A Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon accompanied the meal, over which we took our time. Complimentary liqueurs were served to finish. The bill came to 44000 Pesos.
Taxi home was found easily, and came to 2100 Pesos. Unfortunately, Stephen made an error with the decimal places and paid 10 times too much. Taxi driver scooted before any of us realised the error. Afterwards, a final drink to Chile, neat Pisco, from Alto del Carmen, like a fine brandy with a tingle on the tongue.
Afterward, walking back back through the University district I was befriended by ‘students’ handing out poetry and asking for money. They were friendly, and not too disappointed when I had none to give. There were also students seemingly involved in commencement hi-jinks, with flour in their hair, or carrying flour bombs. Some statues had been ‘striped’ with duct tape, perhaps as part of these activities. Back in the city, the narrow sidewalks were crowded along Calle Moneda, and the sun was warm. Shaded sides of the street were favoured. I took a break in the ‘Gelato Café’ and cooled off with sorbet (2 flavours for 1800 Pesos – mango and cherry). Next destination was the palace of La Moneda, where I failed to find the Museo Memoria, but stepping into the Cultural Centre, now under the square behind the palace. Instead I found an exhibition on Islamic Art, and of native pottery.
In the square in front of La Moneda, a demonstration was going on in front of the Ministry of Justice, where a group of people stood holding signs. Reporters were gathered around, as were numerous police in khaki uniforms. In the rest of the square, people went on with their lunchtime business, sitting on benches or on the grass under shady trees. I took an hour to look through the Precolumbian Museum (3500 pesos), with an impressive collection of artefacts from ‘Chile before Chile’, in a sepulchral space deep beneath the building, and also upstairs, collections from the many pre-colonial cultures of Latin America, from pottery to stonemasonry and metalwork. The Moche copper masks were particularly good.
I returned to the apartment for a rest, walking via Cathedral Metropolitan and the Plaza Armas, which was thronged with caricaturists and residents out shopping. Stoped for cake and cappuccino in the delightfully odd Café Colonia, which was of all things a German coffee house, serving rich cakes and strudel. Afternoon tea cost 4300 Pesos for chocolate cake and coffee. Most odd were the matronly ‘heritage’ wait staff!
After ‘happy hour’ of wine, cheese, grapes and salami, we walked the length of Calle Moneda to Bario Brasil, and to Las Vacas Gordas, the fine steak restaurant we had tried in 2008 on our last transit through Santiago. Despite it being Friday night, the restaurant was not crowded at 7pm, and we had no trouble securing a table. We began with Pisco Sours, and ate delicious tender steaks (or in Stephen’s case brochette), with chips. Mine must have been special, because it came with eggs. A Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon accompanied the meal, over which we took our time. Complimentary liqueurs were served to finish. The bill came to 44000 Pesos.
Taxi home was found easily, and came to 2100 Pesos. Unfortunately, Stephen made an error with the decimal places and paid 10 times too much. Taxi driver scooted before any of us realised the error. Afterwards, a final drink to Chile, neat Pisco, from Alto del Carmen, like a fine brandy with a tingle on the tongue.