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| Midway on the climb up Cerro Santa Lucia |
I arrived in Santiago de Chile at about 7:00 a.m. Chile is officially Country #39 on my list of countries visited.
The flight was not as long as I expected, since Santiago is two time zones ahead of Atlanta (where I changed planes), even though it is due south of Atlanta. This means that it is five hours ahead of Las Vegas time this time of year. I asked for an early check-in, but 9:00 a.m. is a bit too early to check in. Finally, at about 11:30 a.m. Santiago time, it was feeling like a reasonable hour to get out and get walking Las Vegas time.
That is my hotel: the Hotel Cumbres Lastarria. I believe "Cumbres" is the hotel chain. "Lastarria" is the neighborhood in Santiago. I believe you know what "Hotel" stands for.
Lastarria is a quiet residential and restaurant neighborhood, on the eastern edge of the Central Historical District (and well to the west of the financial district).
In the late morning it's quiet. It will get busier (but not louder) (Chilenos are not a loud people) when late afternoon hits.
It's a great location. Walking distance to most sights within Santiago us turistas americanos want to see. Good restaurants for when your feet can take no more walking.
But I had a long Monday that bled into Tuesday traveling from Las Vegas to deep into the heart of the Southern Hemisphere. I was ready to walk.
At the northern end of the park that is Cerro Santa Lucia is this fountain: Neptuno y Anfitrite. Neptuno is Neptune. That's an easy translation. But who is Anfitrite? I'm not much up on the second and third tier of Roman gods. I had to look her up. Anfitrite (English: Amphitrite) (that doesn't help) is the goddess of the sea.
So the hanging out with Neptune/Poseidon makes sense, even if she's Mimi Rogers to Neptune's Tom Cruise.
Time to climb.
Speaking of climbing, I was expecting to get winded because I thought Santiago was a relatively high elevation. It's not. It's only 1,870 feet above sea level. It's lower than Las Vegas by a few hundred feet.
So I can't use "the thin air" as my excuse when I wear out later today. Fortunately, the fact that I only slept (fitfully) for an hour or two on the airplane is ready and available to trot out as my excuse when necessary.
This is a fountain.
It may have name. You won't learn it here.
This is Castilo Hidalgo, the main landmark (other than the viewpoint) in the Cerro Santa Lucia park.
Sometimes the climb is on a dirt path:
But usually it is on slick stone steps.
I would not want to walk this in the rain, especially not in the boat shoes I was wearing because I always were boat shoes on long plane flights (easy off, easy back on).
This is the sepulcher of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna.
I don't know why he shares a name with the camelid that produces the most expensive wool known to man: the vicuña.
Still in the neighborhood of the sepulcher, and we come to this:
The first selfie posted on this trip.
The views get better as you climb higher. This is Cerro San Cristóbal, which is a higher hill in Santiago. It's a mile or two away. Spoiler alert: please note the funicular going up the side of Cerro San Cristóbal. That's on tomorrow's agenda.
And finally I arrive at the top of Cerro San Lucia.
It's crowded. Of course, it is fast becoming a beautiful spring afternoon in November in Santiago de Chile.
And from this side you can see the tallest building in all of South America:
The Costanera Center. It's foggy/smoggy now, but the fog will burn off as the afternoon wears on. I ahve heard that Chile is truly the California of South America, what with wine, and earthquakes, and delicious fruits and vegetables, and with deserts, mountains, and beaches all in close proximity. The fog here behaves like California fog. Cold in the morning. Gone in the afternoon.
Time to descend. There's more Santiago to see before my room is ready.
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