Local Expert
EdwardS
Born and raised in Texas. Howdy! Growing up with the flavors of the Tex-Mex culture has greatly inspired me to travel through Latin America. So far I have traveled to Costa Rica,…
Born and raised in Texas. Howdy! Growing up with the flavors of the Tex-Mex culture has greatly inspired me to travel through Latin America. So far I have traveled to Costa Rica, Mexico, and now Chile. It is through my travels that I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing worse than traveling to a foreign city and ending up in a restaurant where everyone else is carrying the same guidebook as you. In fact, many of the best places in Santiago are barely mentioned in guidebooks. I will give you the insight to the cleanest and safest city in America del Sur. Happy trails.
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One of the best parts of most cities are the little out of the way shops. These could be anything from hole in the wall restaurants to unique stores. Just like most other cities, Santiago has its fair share of these types of treasures. One such shop is found in Barrio Patronato and it sells custom frames and religious art. But it is not the merchandise that makes this shop worth a visit, but instead it is the colorful owner, Hernán Fierro, who will warmly welcome you into his shop and proceed to talk your ear off. Hernán spent sometime in Chicago, and so he speaks a little English. So if you can speak a little Spanish, you can certainly communicate with him. In addition to the friendly conversation there are wonderful religious paintings to admire and purchase, and if you have any questions just ask Hernán as he will answer them all. Also feel free to ask about Hernán's own paintings, which he will gladly show you and sell to you. He is also very proud of how long each one took him to paint, so be sure to ask if he doesn't tell you. You can easily spend a couple of hours speaking with Hernán about everything from the art in his store to what's new in the United States.
Chileans like to us mass demonstrations to get their voices heard. It seems every week there is a new protest somewhere in Santiago, and for the most part the government just stays out of it and lets the people vent. While I would not recommend getting involved in the protest, it is interesting to such a mass use of this type of free speech. For example, just a week or two ago a group of school children barricaded themselves into their school demanding reforms to the education system. During the protests the students lived in the school which prevented the teachers from entering the school. While the students were living in the school they were dependent on the kindness of others to support them. What this meant was that the children needed food to be delivered by people on the outside, and for money to be donated so that they could buy food and other supplies to keep the protest alive. It was interesting to see the kindness of others supporting their cause, giving donations through the school's fence. It is hard to imagine anything like this happening in North America especially given the logistics of keeping many students feed over many days. Most of the protests do not escalate into violence, but you will see a strong police presence to make sure that things do not get out of hand. Of course, Chileans liberal use of protests could be a result of many years under Pinochet's rule. But whatever the motive, it is very interesting to see free speech so wildly used and embraced by the Chileans.
One thing that is hard to miss in Santiago are all of the stray dogs walking around the city. While the sight of so many dogs might make some people uneasy, there really is no reason to fear them. In fact, the dogs are some of the best mannered dogs I have ever seen. The dogs just seem to know what is proper and what is not. They tend to congregate around places where they are more likely to get left over food, but the dogs will not bother you when you are eating. I have eaten outside at many sidewalk cafes and no dog has ever approached me while I was eating. They just lay around patiently in case someone wants to give them a scrap from their plate. Much like feral cats these stray dogs are street smart and just know how to survive in the city. One of the more noticeable traits of these dogs are their patience in crossing streets. The dogs wait at the intersections until people start walking before they cross busy streets and just the other day I saw a dog make a protected left turn across one of the busiest streets in Santiago. Who would have thought a dog would have been smart enough to wait until it had the right of way before crossing the street. So next time you are walking around Santiago keep an eye out for the dogs as they are just as much part of Santiago as the views of the Andes.
For those who like to see the off beat parts of cities then Barrio Patronato is your kind of place in Santiago. To a Chilean, Patronato is the place where you would go to buy textiles. Just about every street in Patronato is lined with clothing shops. While to some this might sound like a great reason alone to visit Patronato, it is the buildings that will catch your eye. Walking through Patronato one cannot help but to stop and stare at the graffiti on the buildings. At first glance, you might think that this is just another run down neighborhood like so many in North America, but upon closer inspection something seems out of place. This is not the traditional or normal graffiti that you have seen before. You start to notice the graffiti has a purpose as each building seems to have its own theme. Then you start to realize that the graffiti looks more like it was put there with an artistic perspective. Something is very strange about Patronato, and it gets even more strange when you find out that the locals are proud of their buildings with graffiti all over them.
You see a few years back a newly elected mayor wanted to spruce up Barrio Patronato, but did not have the funds to do it all himself. Many of the exterior of the buildings needed a fresh coat of paint. So the mayor devised a plan to embrace those who graffiti buildings. The mayor told the people of Patronato that they should embrace these "artists" and give them a place to express themselves. The results can be seen all over Patronato today.
The scheme was really simple. An artist would contact the building owner and offer to paint the outside of the building. If the owner accepted then the owner's building would get a fresh coat of paint, with the artist's touch of course, and the artist would get a canvas to show the world his work. This was great for all involved as it cost the building owners nothing to get a fresh coat of paint and it gave the artists a unique medium to show their work. This has created a very unusual neighborhood in Santiago. So to see a unique side of Santiago and some creative government policy at work, head over to Barrio Patronato.
If you want to get out of the bright lights of Santiago, there is only one place to go, the Alameda Bus Terminal. The Alameda Bus Terminal is the main bus terminal in Santiago, and it can be easily reached via the Metro stop Universidad de Santiago. One quick note about this Metro stop, as it is sometimes referred to as Estacion Central. This is confusing because the stop immediately before is also called Estacion Central and it is the stop for the train terminal. So don't be fooled by the confusing names, and just remember to get off on Universidad de Santiago and you will be fine.
The bus terminal itself is street level above the Metro stop, so just follow the signs to the terminal. Once in the bus terminal you will find the two main and best bus services in Santiago, Tur Bus and Pullman Bus, dominate the ticket windows. Simply walk around the terminal and look at the destinations and prices on the boards around the ticket windows. You will find buses going to just about everywhere in Chile, and international routes to Argentina and Peru. Tickets are easy to buy and relativity cheap. For example, a round trip ticket to Mendoza, Argentina will cost you approximately $30. So if you have the city blues just hop on the Metro and head for the buses, and in no time you will be on your way.
Getting from place to place in Santiago is very easy and efficient. The public transportation system here in Santiago can get you anywhere you need to go fast.
First off, most tourist destinations can easily be reached via a trip on the subway. The subway system in Santiago is called the Metro. The Metro has a Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue line. The Red line is the line that most tourist attractions are off of. The lines intersect at various stations, so you can easily get from one line to another. Metro tickets can be purchased in every subway terminal from manned ticket counters. If your stay in Santiago is going to be long and you anticipate riding the Metro many times I would recommend purchasing a "BIP" card. A BIP card is a rechargeable plastic card, much like a credit card, that will save you time as you will not have to stand in line at ticket windows each time you need to ride the Metro. Also all Metro stations have display maps showing the routes, so you can easily check which Metro line you need to get onto. There is also no need to look for time tables as you will never have to wait more than a minute or two for the next Metro.
Your next option are the buses. Here in Santiago the buses have come a long way and are now a reliable source of public transportation. There are bus stops at each Metro stop so transferring from the Metro to a bus or the other way around is not complicated.
With so many reliable and easy options to get around in Santiago you do not need a car. I would also advise against renting a car as parking is hard to find and expensive when you do find it. Also be aware that during rush hour times both the Metro and the buses can be overflowing with commuters as many Chileans use public transportation to get to and from work. But if you do find yourself riding the Metro during rush hour most Chileans will try to make space on the train so don't be shy about trying to squeeze on the train.