Museum day

The only good thing about Sundays is that museums are often free! We decided to make it a museum day to get a look at the town and take advantage of free admission. The first museum on the agenda was the "Museo del Bellas Artes" which was supposed to have local modern exhibits as well as classical paintings and sculptures. A blog had talked about the museum and included a picture of the building below, so we assumed the museum was conveniently located right across from our hostel. Sadly, when we arrived, we realized that the blogger had been wrong and that we were at the public library (which was closed on Sundays). Since we had no idea how to get to the real museum, we decided to check out the park on Cerro Santa Lucia that we had seen the night before. As we walked to the park, we passed a large backpacker hostel and went in and grabbed some maps so we would know where we were going. Hostels are great places to get information, even if you're not staying there.

Once at the park, we were surprised how lovely it was. Apparently it had originally been used as a defensive fort but had been converted into a park in 1872 when there was a movement to transform the urban atmosphere of the city. There was a little castle at the top of the hill which gave great views of all of Santiago.

We finally located the Museo of Bellas Artes, which was another beautiful building. They did have a few good exhibits of paintings and sculptures, but most of what they were featuring was technological art which I just don't get. Letting a movie play on a white wall is not art to me. Spinning lights are not art to me. Call me old fashioned but that kind of art is beyond me.

As we walked around Santiago, I loved the feel of the city. It reminded me a lot of when I lived in Chicago. They have great public transportation and tons of fantastic outdoor spaces. They are clearly concerned with art and culture and are very active. The city literally closes down on Sundays for bikers and you could see how excited everyone was to ride around town on their bikes. I loved it!

It was also interesting to see the different backpacker culture that exists in Santiago. The backpackers in the picture below literally had couches set up down by the river which was allowed by the city. The city really seems to embrace all people and all ideas, which is not always the case in Latin America, so it was great to see.

Next, we went to La Chascona , which was the house that belonged to Pablo Neruda. The house has a very unique style which you can see reflects the poets' personality. It was very interesting to learn about the history of the house as well as Pablo's personal and political difficulties.

Following La Chascona, we went to Cerro San Cristobal. This mountain in the center of town has a tram which you can ride to the top and check out the zoo, gardens and pools at the top. It closed at 4:00 which wouldn't have given us much time at the top so we opted not to go. Instead, I tried a "Mote con huesillo" that everyone was eating in the park. It was a very sweet peach nectar, with a full peach and some sort of grain. I actually kind of liked it!

Once we were done with our museum tour, we headed to a local cafe to have a beer and watch the locals in their element. Everyone here smokes...I mean everyone. I've never seen so many packs of cigarettes stacked on tables. If smoking didn't make me gag I would totally take it up just to fit in, lol.

After our beer, we headed to the local supermarket to grab some food to make dinner at the hostel. I had become concerned about the prices of things in Chile and thought it might be good if we mixed in some meals at home with our eating out. I made some pasta with zucchini which was good however, the bottle of wine I'd selected was horrible and I couldn't even drink it. I guess I really do need to start buying more expensive wines as much as it pains me...you get what you pay for!

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