We arrived at our hostel - CasAltura in Santiago, Chile at about 5:30 a.m. We were incredibly thankful to be allowed to check into our dorm room at that time. We basically crashed and slept through breakfast.

Eventually, we organized our stuff, got a map and hit the city to find some food and explore. Santiago is the largest and consequently most polluted city in Chile. 6.3 million people live in this capital city. There are many neighborhoods to explore and we were perfectly centrally located. We easily found their famous fish market and were approached by many hosts encouraging us to eat at their restaurant. We chose the first spot we saw. We were serenaded by local singers as we sipped our complimentary pisco sour. This quickly became our favorite pre-dinner drink....after all, when in Rome...

We walked around and saw some parks and made note of where some of the landmarks were for future visits. One of our first observations was that a great deal of Chileans smoke. Someone later told us about 40% of them smoke. You just couldn't avoid it. That combined with a few local incapacitated souls on the sidewalk and the inability to enjoy the mountain views due to smog made for a poor first impression.

Of the neighborhoods we visited, we enjoyed the Bellas Artes the most. It was artsy and had some nice restaurants. We strongly disliked the Bella Vista neighborhood. It was packed with university students who loudly partied to the wee hours.

We were in Santiago three times throughout our tour of Chile. I don't think it rained one day we were there. The weather was fabulous and quite hot for their spring season. Besides walking through various neighborhoods we visited Saint Lucia Hill, The Chilean Museum of Pre Columbian Art, the zoo, and San Cristobal Hill.

Liam on the roof lounge area of the hostel taking in the sights...some mountains in the background

Layla, resident cat, hanging out in our room

Plaza de Armas under construction....fortunately, they covered the scaffolding with a print of the building they are working on....unusual

Low river through Santiago, if you squint  you can see mountains — Low river through Santiago, if you squint you can see mountains

castle/fortress at top of Santa Lucia Hill

View from the top of the hill and you can see the impact of the smog

San Cristobal Hill is 880 meters high - a good climb if you're up for it. This family opted for the funicular ride up. Funiculars are these cool, small sort of open train cars on a track that go up and down hills. I'll go more into that on my post for Valparaiso.

At the top of the hill is a 22 meter statue of the Virgin Mary. The sanctuary at the top is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and Pope John Paul II prayed here and blessed the city in 1987. There is also a lovely amphitheater where masses are held.

We were moved by the prayers left by visitors. You could light candles and pray in the church. This was definitely a worthwhile venture.

The track splits briefly so one funicular can go up as we go down. Well timed.