Saturday, April 14, 2007

STROLLING IN SANTIAGO, CHILE

CENTRAL MARKET



"MERCADO CENTRAL - The wrought iron building was fabricated in England and served as a London railway station before being brought to Chile and assembled here piece by piece for the National Exposition of 1872. Later, it became a market"



"HERBS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES"



"FISH"


"FOOD STALL near the statue"


"RESTAURANT - Just seated"


"PISCO SOUR, as an aperitif"


"HUNGRY, waiting"


"KING CRAB"


"FINALLY, someone is going to start eating..."

***

SAN CRISTOBAL


"CERRO SAN CRISTOBAL, a hill close to Barrio Bellavista, rises roughly 900m above sea level and its peak is the highest point in the city, some 300m above the rest of Santiago. From the peak, near the church and the statue of Virgin Mary, one has a fabulous view of the city"

***

MERCED



"MERCED BASILICA"


"LAWYERS AND WITCHES"

***

CERRO SANTA LUCIA






"SANTA LUCIA was so named when on February 12th, 1541, at the foot of the hill, Pedro de Valdivia founded the city of Santiago. In 1872, Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna decided to make the hill a new attraction of the European style city. The Alameda entrance was designed by the Architect Victor de Villeneuve and finished in 1902, and on 16 December 1983 Cerro Santa Lucia was declared a national monument"

Next evening we flew back to Madrid and then Lisbon, and that was the end of the 2004 vacation!

12 comments:

Meg said...

I LOVE markets - I don't get to as many as I like - the best experience so far was the upstairs spice market in Suva, Fiji. A bomb blast of colors and smell.

isa said...

Thank you for that gourmet tour of Santiago! Hope the king crab was as delicious as it was big ;-)

Cuckoo said...

Nice pictures !!

I liked the King crab & all pictures of Santa Lucia. :))

Thanks for sharing.

Kalyan Panja said...

I really envy you...Some wonderfully captured shots...thanks for sharing!

Kala said...

ha very kewl - another continent!

GMG said...

Hi everybody.

Meg, markets are also included in my favourites. I haven't seen it in Fiji, but there I saw the best of another favourite: a sunset! Regrettably, I've no photo...

Isabella, the crab was good, but not as much as it promised; anyhow, I'm suspect, because I think Portuguese seafood is the best: a question of balance, between its quality and the way of cooking it...

Cookie, Santa Lucia is a very nice place in old Santiago, quite close to the University. It increases students' romances...

Kalyan, thanks for dropping by and comment.

Kala, like a poet (Fernando Pessoa, maybe borrowing from Petrarch) wrote: «navegar é preciso, viver não é preciso». The common translation is «navigate is needed, live is not needed...»; some say however that the correct translation should be «navigate is precise, live is not precise...». Anyhow, navigate is compulsory...

Sally said...

Markets like you have shown are wonderful places for visitors and locals alike.

I can't stand the sort of markets where they just sell tourist junk, but where they are woven in to th fabric of everyday like they are superb.

I rather like the contrast in Barcelona of the re-built, very modern Santa caterina market with the one on the other side of las Pamblas. I stayed in Barceloneta last year and liked the neighbourhood market there (it was also being re-built).

Much nicer than a supermarket you drive to - I love shopping in your own neighbourhood, where things are fresh if at all possible (not for me, sadly)

Ash said...

Fantastic images, as always!

Anonymous said...

I heard that Chile serves really delectable foods. When I saw the pictures that you took at the market and at the restaurants, I realized that it's true.

GMG said...

Sally, it's true that the local markets are usually nicer, but it's amazing that here in Lisbon supermarkets are somehow in the neighbourhood...

Thanks Ash, welcome back!

Rcon, we had some fabulous meals in Chile... but we look forward to seeing some tagine and couscous photos in your blog

Anonymous said...

those giant crabs in mercado central give me the chills every time I'm there. I love the views from both Cerro San Cristobol and Cerro Santa Lucia. Great photos.

Anonymous said...

Santiago Tourist,
Thanks for visiting and commenting here. It's great to get the impressions of a Santiago expert on this post. Loved it!