Travels with rarecat: Chile/Argentina

I flew to Santiago, Chile on February 16 (Chinese New Year's Eve) and spent the early hours of the Year of the Snake in the air. I didn't check the horoscopes for what the New year forebodes, determined on this adventure regardless of what's in the books. It turned out to be the start of an amazing 3 week trip covering Santiago, Valparaiso, Easter Island, Torres del Paine, El Calafate, El Chalten and ending in Buenos Aires.

I had visited Buenos Aires in 2017, did the Alpine Crossing to Chile before going to Patagonia. But I missed El Chalten and Santiago. Easter Island was an unexpected add-on this time, not realizing at the time how far away it is actually from the mainland - a six hour flight nonetheless. It was by no means a "side-trip" - not in terms of expense, commitment and expectations. It was a full-blown adventure on its own - and well worth it.

We spent Chinese New Year's Day touring central Santiago in the afternoon starting with the Mercado Central, a stunning structure built using European cast-iron technology in the Neo-Classical and Renaissance architectural style. Our original plan was to have lunch at this landmark, but as the flight was delayed we missed the lunch hour so had to settle for just a quick tour of this building.

From the market it was a short walk to the Plaza de Armas where we were greeted by a policeman who explained to us (unsolicited) which streets leading from the Plaza are safe and which ones are dangerous. What a welcome! The warnings were reinforced later when we innocently asked a cashier inside what looked like a post office where we can get Chilean pesos. She gave us instructions to a money exchange not far down the street. This was likely overheard by a caring customer who followed us out and insisted on escorting us to the exchange, with dire warnings NEVER to get money changed from street vendors. Whew!

You will find in this first post a mish mesh of Santiago central landmarks, urban landscapes mixed in with street photography of what I find interesting rather than statues or monuments. We stayed in La Starria, a colourful touristy neighbourhood with street vendors. I am sure it is very safe. There are police cars stationed on the main street every night just before it gets dark, so I have no problems venturing out to buy takeout the day we are not eating in a restaurant. It was in fact quite an adventure to buy Waffle Chicken and asking for a custom vegetable stir fry (not on the menu) all with the help of Google translate!

Mercado Central

Very much a fish market

Plaza de Armas

Happy child

A corner of the Plaza with the Cathedral on the left

Inside the Cathedral

Confrontation on the street

Rainbow crossings here too

Many such converging intersections here with not quite flat iron buildings but certainly reminiscent of them.

Play of light and shadow in the courtyard of the Visual Arts Museum in La Starria where we were staying. We have walked by here different times of day and the shadows are not always seen depending on the sun position.