Santiago: The L.A. of the (far, far) South
Santiago is the dominant force of Chile, in terms of culture and population- over 40% of Chile lives in the greater santiago area- which is crazy, as Bangkok (where I previously lived before moving to Brazil) is 22% of the countries population- it's such a crazy high percentage that, outside of tiny island nations like Suriname, Iceland and the Marshall Islands, the only countries which have such a high % of the population living in one city are Doha in Qatar (67%) and Montevideo in Uruguay (also around 40%).
This almost 500 year old city is broken up into many smaller neighborhoods, with each one I experienced containing it's unique vibe. The city was placed next to the (absolutely filthy) Mapocho river, which has been canalized in order to look even more like Los Angeles. Though large, the city is easily traversible thanks to cabs, Uber/Cab 99 and the Santiago Metro (mobilizing 2.5 million passengers/day) so getting from A to B is a fairly painless process.
Being interested in both food and architecture in equal measure, I gravitated to the La Starria neighborhood (barrio lastarria), which, in the center of Santiago and including both food (more ceviche!) and notable sites like the Museo Nacional de Bella Artes and the Chilean Museum of Contemporary Art (which was sadly closed for the holidays while I was visiting).
While Santiago as a whole had a Northern Hollywood sort of vibe, the Bellavista neighborhood reminded me of what it was like growing up in Bend, Oregon- high elevation, mountains and arid hills abound, and loads of eateries, beer, and trinkets sold everywhere. Great heladeria found in "Il Maestrale", where the dulce de leite ice cream is perfect on a hot summer's day. Also found there is the blue behemoth of the Neruda house, the whole neighborhood replete with graffiti dedicated to the Poet. Read "If You Forget Me" to understand why Neruda is such a force, even 50 years after his death.
Another part of Santiago that was charming and walkable was the neighborhood we stayed, Av. Italia- a long street full of high-end shops and numerable vegan food options, this is the yoga-practicing, patchouli-stinking hippies' dream- one of our Uber drivers said the street was synonymous with "Calle de Gringo"- so it was good we fit that bill, I suppose. On this street we were not only able to get come good cafe and empanadas, but also Mexican, Indian, and Peruvian food. We also were beckoned into a makeshift circus performance by people whose appearance evoked "A Clockwork Orange"-level vibes, so that was exciting.
Altogether, Santiago was a fascinating experience and getting to see a different side of South America (especially one far more matrilineal) was illuminating. It wasn't my favorite part of my journey, but for food, steet art, architecture and Museums, Santiago is definitely the bees knees. In my next post, I will share about one of the favorite parts of the our Chile experience- a day trip to Valparaiso by the sea.