City guides: Santiago and surroundings

Architecture ++

The Bahá’í temple has been constructed only four years ago and it’s strategically situated on a hill overlooking Santiago (you’ll have to take two buses and be patient). Unfortunately it closes at 19, still in winter you get to see the city lights if you head there late at sunset hour. The main building was projected by a Canadian architect and to me it looks like cabbage, but it might have been inspired by a blossoming bud. There are multiple interpretations, but to my eyes it embodies the harmony of life (in South America it is also said that children are born in repollos = cabbage!). The space inside is quite calm, as if it were designed to encourage meditation. More (better) pictures and architecture porn can be viewed here. The Baha’i faith has it’s roots in 19th Century Iran (it’s roughly tied to Zoroastrianism): there’s a library where you can educate yourself.

Monasterio Benedictino Los Dominicos 
Situated just out of a wealthy suburb by Las Condes, the building was designed by a monk: it’s the only project he ever envisaged before completely embracing monastic life. This masterpiece of essential simplicity was built in the 60s (you’d think it’s older, but think you’re neither in Europe nor in California) and is a rare example of modernism in the Southern cone (if my architect friend hadn’t brought me here I wouldn’t have discovered this). What makes it impressive to the common viewer is the way light comes in through thin ‘cuts’ in the walls. More pictures of the building here. If you book ahead in advance you can also stay here for a few days, abiding by a set of rules. Sadly we didn’t know this, but it is an experience I think I would have enjoyed.

Museums ++

Museo de Arte Precolombino
Close to Plaza de Armas you’ll find the Museum of Pre-colombine art: it’s really worth it, especially the underground part, ‘Chile antes de Chile’ which shows mostly Mapuche grave statues, including a rewe, or brujo, and objects crafted by native populations which lived on Chilean soil. The store is great also.

From there, head towards the river and you’ll find a nice area with free museums close to Bellas artes and a park. On calle Mojitas you have a notable vinyl store (Needles) and in front of it Café Radicales, which lists prices for the cinema including beer. If you walk towards Lastarria – you should – you can also visit this cultural center – it usually has a lot going on and there is a good bookstore and a wine shop inside, just in case. There’s a good art gallery just around the corner and some improvised ones around as well. This is a really cool, kind of expensive, clothing store (I like their male/unisex t-shirts, it’s a good gift). Another more affordable local (surfing items) brand I like is Stoked!, you can find their shirts at the airport also.

Museo Violeta Parra
Violeta’s self-declared mission was to travel through Chile and somehow compile a manual of Chile’s folklore musical traditions which had just been transmited orally from one generation to the other. She then reinterpreted this baggage. Regardless if you like her art not, which is very diverse and can’t be clustered into a single field or medium, she certainly contributed to the preservation of Chile’s cultural heritage. A donation is encouraged to enter the Museum, which is very colourful and kid-friendly. 

Museo de Derechos Humanos (Yungay district, metro station Quinta normal)
The museum describes what took place in Chile in the 70s, far from being reduced to the opposition of marxism and capitalism, the decades of dictatorship and the vote for democracy. Look up the map where the quantity of detention centres are listed. For non-Spanish speakers there is no English translation of tags, but all videos have subtitles and you should in any case book a free guided tour via their website (I didn’t, but my brother said they’re really good).

Street Art

It’s pretty much everywhere – you’ll find it especially in the Yungay, Bella Vista and Lastarria districts. A very famous Chilean street artist is INTI: his style is very recognisable as he has painted many versions of the Madonna (to me it looks like it) worldwide. You can find one of his walls on the Bellas artes metro stop; I don’t think it’s his best work (I love the Paris one) but it’s worth stopping by.

Bars
There’s a ‘secret’ bar in Bella Vista (Room 9): the ambience didn’t strike me particularly, but the cocktails were excellent! I chose one with cyril. 
Still in Bella Vista, the club Chocolate has often famous bands playing – I happened to catch ska-p legends. In this area there are many live venues, we once dined listening to bossa nova in a basement. 

Day trips


Cajón del Maipo
While artificial, this lake secluded between the Andes (the Maipo volcano marks the border between Chile and Argentina) is absolutely beautiful and would be my top pick for a day trip from the capital – unless it’s a good day to go skiing. On the other side of the Andes is located la Laguna del Diamante, from where you can also see the Maipo volcano. Trekking in the area is possible as well. You might also notice panels criticising hydroelectric projects and mining; Chile’s economy has historically levered on minerary extraction and export of raw materials. Besides from being commodities and therefore known to have mostly unstable pricing in the marketplace and being a field traditionally owned by a pack of families, my understanding has been that most opposition to specific projects has come from environmental activists who expect a change on water supplies as a direct consequence and from local communities who fear changes in the livelihoods. It’s very sensitive and very debatable at the moment.

Valparaíso
This street art mecca can be a good option. 
I’ve never seen as many painted walls anywhere else! While most of them are cheerful, many of them have a historical and political message (some more subtle than others). The images here show a very explicit anti-imperialist series denouncing the Spanish conquista, clashes between the Mapuche population and the Military, the imposition of the Catholic faith and the influence of globalisation. Regardless of your views, these images will make you think (and debate!). 

Valle Nevado 
Only 2 hours away from Santiago, I found the quality of the slopes and the snow to be stellar (if the aim is skiing, I deem this better than Bariloche, these are South America’s two biggest ski resorts). You can do this as a day trip leaving early from Santiago – exiting the city you’ll get to see Las Condes/Vitacura neighbourhoods, Chiles’s financial centre, known as Sanhattan (sic). Consider that on this side you’ll get more snow than on the Argentinian side – no snow here means no snow at all, so it tends to be a safe bet. I don’t have a decent picture of the resort, but here you can see the same mountains from the plane:

Some suggestions on where to stay

I tend not to do this, but I LOVED this completely sustainable airbnb located in the Yungay district where I stayed during one of my many short trips to Santiago. It’s an old colonial house where two artists renovated as much as possible (i.e. the stairs) and rebuilt what was necessary (bathrooms, floors) with spotless taste. It uses solar energy to heat water, which is quite common in Chile. The neighbours are very nice and like to sit outside and talk (they’re mostly Peruvian). Regardless of your choice for accommodation I suggest that you still visit the area, have breakfast at Peluquería francesa (a unique place that serves the best ave palma sandwich ever!) and a vibrant cultural centre – I saw Una mujer fantastica there. Another excellent (Peruvian) restaurant is Zarita, which serves strong pisco sours and great ceviche.
I also strongly recommend Hotel Carmenere in Providencia, it’s the epitome of a small boutique hotel in a renovated old building with a garden – it’s also walking distance from Barrio Italia, a Latin American version of Shoreditch packed with design stores and local art fairs and pop-ups on Sundays. If you absolutely feel the need to visit a shopping mall, Parque Arauco is pretty and has some decent hiking gear; Costanera center should be visited only to see the view from the top floor on a very clear winter day (which is a rare occurrence); if you need to buy random things at the last minute it can be a quick fix as you have both Falabella (Chile’s and South America’s largest department store) and a supermarket in the same place (I had to buy a phone), as well as money exchange options.

A brief comment on the 2019 protests and its repression + some context


When something so huge happens I question myself if I should write about travel: there are more important things deserving our full attention. 
I started writing this guide before 18th October, 2019. As clashes between protesters and the army (yes, the army, with tanks) haven’t ceased and no real changes have taken place I have to include something about this. Chile’s economy is the best in South America at a macroeconomic level – that means from afar. If you look closer, the gap between the rich and the very poor is immense, way bigger than in neighbouring Argentina. When higher education and hospitals are completely privatised like in Chile and Perú, changing your social status becomes virtually impossible. On another level, students addressed the inequality between nations and the inequality between generations – not happy to pay previous mistakes. The Government response was objectively been inefficient: tanks considering Chile’s infamous dictatorship history came as quite a shock, as they were last seen in the streets in 1982; the curfew came as a total surprise for what started as mostly generic protests. In any case, anger spread very fast and an unprecedented breakout of violence (objectively out of control and not justifiable) took place: Government buildings were targeted, but also foreigners (vehicles with foreign plates above all), hotels, even local businesses who were ‘capitalising’ selling things. Around a year after the protests began, a new Constitution has been approved – there is no way to tell if this will imply long-term change, but a first step has been taken..

To dive into the past, there’s a very good documentary by famous Italian director Nanni Moretti depicting Chile’s political refugees (from very different backgrounds) who fled to Italy during the dictatorship years. It also features parts of Allende’s famous speech; Salvador Allende was Chile’s openly marxist president, who won democratic elections by a large margin and was replaced by a military dictatorship in full Cold War style.

Literary dispatch

In artistic terms, Chile’s greatest gift may come from his poets; to name three among many: Nicanor Parra (el antipoeta, here’s his stance on wine), Gabriela Mistral, pictured next (taken at the Museum dedicated to her memory in one of the towns she used to teach), who had the saddest, yet undeniably interesting life and the famous but not overrated Pablo Neruda (this video might spark your curiosity). Any book by these authors is by itself a great gift for any reader.

I also recommend this very short graphic novel: Pikinini by José Miguel Varas and Raquel Echeñique; it’s beautifully narrated and drawn, and depicts real events that took place in the remote Southern region of Chile in the 19th century. I feel that if this had been printed in the US or France it would have become a huge seller.

Going even more mainstream, I suggest my favourite book by Luis Sepulveda, who sadly just passed away due the current pandemic. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by this author, who was also quite engaged politically and exiled – he lived most of his life in Europe. I cannot say the same for worldwide famous Isabel Allende, but I do suggest reading La casa de los espíritus, which besides from being genius, is narrated in an unspecified South american country, where a military dictatorship takes control.

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