Santa Lucia

It was going to be a warm, beautiful, sunny winter day; I wanted to be outdoors so got the directions to go to Santa Lucia, a famous hilltop park on the 2nd largest hill in Santiago and right in the middle of the city. Historically,  it was at the foot of this hill that Pedro de Valdivia, a Spanish Conquistador, founded the city of Santiago on February 12th, 1541.  

After the founding of the city, the Spanish conquistadors used Santa Lucia hill as a lookout point for the planning of the city.

The triangular park has a hodge podge of structures that range from statues, fountains, ornate architectural buildings and even a Castle that are joined together by steps, caves and winding pathways. Here is the reason why:

Between 1814 and 1817 royalist troops built the castle as a defense fortification and at the same time, part of the hill was used as a cemetery.In 1872, the mayor Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna decided to give the hill a new look and attraction, so  plants, trees, vegetation, etc. were planted.  Plazas (squares) with fountains and numerous lookout points were connected by a labyrinth of stairways and paths to make the hill a lovely place for a stroll. 

At the bottom: Plaza of Neptune

Steps going up

Halfway up is a church and statue. I believe that the mayor responsible for the updates to the park, B. Vicuna McKenna is buried here.

Hidalgo Castle

Winding pathway going up to the Castle

Have no idea what the importance of the dog was: no plaque or anything...?! I couldn't resist imitating the dog...

Nice view of the city from the top

San Cristobal Cerro on the left; the highest hill.  You can see the polluted air of Santiago since it sits in a valley surrounded by the Andes Mountains.

Since it was such a gorgeous day and in the middle of the winter, I wanted to do some more walking, so took off with my tourist map(does not show all the streets) and followed the river. My map showed the river Mapocho leading me back towards my home. What a nice walk I was having:

One of the parks near Santa Lucia 

Statue at Baquedano

Guys with snowboard bags on wheels!!!

Many bridges across the river

Market on a bridge on the river

Just past this market, I stopped at a vendor that was selling Chilean Hot Dogs: short, stubby, red, fat, spicy, delicious! And his condiments included the traditional Chilean HOT sauce' I sat down, ate my hot dog, and took out my map. I realized, I had NO IDEA WHERE I WAS! I could see the name of a Metro in the distance but did not recognize the name. I walked back to the hot dog vendor and asked him how to get to one of the main Metro Line transfers. He told me but I had no idea what he was saying so took off towards the Metro I could see: I was at the yellow line and I had never been to this part of the Metro/city before; I've only traveled on the Red Line and part of the Green line. I walked down the steps to the Metro and decided that this must be where most of the people live since the Metro was packed with people! It was as bad as "rush hour" on the weekdays and this was Saturday! Not only were there hordes of people, but the people were carrying bags full of stuff! I was comfortable with the Metro System so knew that I just needed to try to figure it out and not panic. The Yellow line? I was in strange territory indeed! I knew I needed to take the Metro to the nearest transfer spot to connect to the Red Line!

When I finally returned home after my adventure, I located another map that showed more detail and I am embarrassed to say that I had taken off walking along the river in the wrong direction! I was walking AWAY from where I was planning to go and the reason there were so many people with bags of stuff is because I was right across the street from the Central Mercado Market; one of the busiest places in Santiago and I was there at one of the busiest times!