Monday we got ourselves out of bed and going around 10am. We decided to take the day to visit Plaza de Armas, which I learned is actually a general name for many historic city centers in Latin America. Anyways, there we saw the Metropolitan Cathedral, which is gorgeous. The inside has ceilings like those you would think of in many European cathedrals. Of course the church itself was dimly lit, but here are a few pictures:
We left the church and rounded the street corner to find people dressed as animals playing music while marching in protest to the dam that may be built in the Patagonian region of the country. Should it be built, lots of animals, indigenous groups, and wildlife will be wiped out. Here are some pictures of the protesting:
Of course, I was so excited to see even a quiet protest. I missed taking pictures of the signs the first time the protestors went by, but my mom knew how interested in all of this I am so she just told me to run ahead and she would find me when it was over. I literally sprinted so as to take these photos.
We then just walked around a little more within the financial district and inside this area with lots of little vendors. We got some postcards, and enjoyed just taking in everything. Me being me, I also befriended a stray dog that followed us for awhile.
After, we decided we wanted to go to the Cerro San Cristóbal ('cerro' means 'hill'...though it seemed like more of a mountain to me!) to see the virgin at the top that watches the city. We can see her from the apartment, so we figured that would be fun to do. We took the subway about halfway there, and then walked the rest. On the way, we walked through several streets lined with vendors selling hand-crafted goods, and just cheap clothing items and such. My mom and I each bought a few things for ourselves and friends. However, while one would think the cheap prices would have us in awe (I got a purse and a skirt for ~$5 USD each, and earrings for $1.50), we actually found all of the mannequins to be the most amusing. She and I decided we are going to devote an entire blog post solely to mannequins and dogs in sweaters, however I will give you a sneak preview:
Beyond the vendors but still before the hill we passed through an area known as Bellas Artes, which translated literally means 'fine arts.' Beyond walking past the museum, I didn't see a whole lot of fine arts, however, I was really impressed with all of the murals.
 |
| This one's my favorite. |
Finally, we arrived at the base of the hill. The hill itself we rode up in a little stand-up cable car for about $3 roundtrip per person. In the car next to us was a group of university students from Missouri. I can not tell you how great it was just to talk in English for those few minutes! A family friend warned me before leaving that speaking (or, trying to) in Spanish nonstop can be mentally exhausting; I now understand what he means! Here are pictures from the top.
As you can see, the view was gorgeous! Thankfully the camera died after we got a few pictures.
Once we were back down the hill, we were headed home. Walking back to the subway station, though, we recognized something we had seen in a travel brochure- the Patio Bellavista. We decided to venture inside, and we're glad we did. It was such a cute place! Our only picture was taken quickly after we took the batteries out for a second, so I'll show you ours and one from the internet. We had appetizers and mojitos at this little sushi bar.
Well, we're getting ready to take an hour and a half bus ride to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso to see the ocean...and the wineries! I'll update soon!
those are the most artistic sperm i have ever seen.
ReplyDelete