Santiago de Chile

Santiago, a sophisticated city of approximately 5 million people which is about a third the entire Chile population. The architecture of the buildings in the city are quite contrasting. Earthquakes have flattened many of the colonial era buildings, and what remains has been left to decay to the point that tearing down an antique mansion is cheaper than restoration. Thus, the city consists of a mixture of modern skyscrapers or cement apartment buildings towering over 200 year old relics.
The food is absolutely sensational, tapas at a vino bar this evening was a gastronomy experience. This is a part of the world that is big on the eating of meats, it would be hard to describe passion people here have for meat style culinary delights.
Special note - Flying in over the Andes was a spectacular sight with numerous snow covered mountain peaks well above the cloud line, the highest peak rising to nearly 7000 metres.
Tomorrow I plan on doing some more sight seeing, the city centre is quite compact and easy to get around. Its centre is roughly triangular in shape and in its heart is the Plaza de Armas, the chief plaza and the cathedral. Panning out from here are wall-to-wall shops, restaurants and parks.

Ciao












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cholula, Mexico

Image
Cholula is a city and district located in the center west of the state of Puebla, next to the city of Puebla de Zaragoza, in central Mexico. Cholula is best known for its Great Pyramid, with the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios sanctuary on top and its numerous churches. The city and district are divided into two, San Pedro Cholula and San Andrés Cholula, which together are officially called the Distrito Cholula de Rivadavia. The pyramid is small part of the archeological zone of Cholula, which is estimated at 154 hectares (380 acres).  Building of the pyramid began in the pre Classic period and over time was built over six times to its final dimensions of 120 metres on each side at the base and eighteen meters tall.  This base is four times the size of that of the Great Pyramid of Giza and is the largest pyramid base in the Americas.  Two of the stages of construction use talud-tablero architecture which was also used in Teotihuacan.  Some of the pyramid constructions have had burials,
Read more

Mitla, Mexico

Image
An archeological site is within the modern municipality of San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Mitla was the main religious centre. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place of the dead or underworld. Its Zapotec name is Lyobaa, which means “place of rest.” The name Mictlán was Hispanicized to Mitla by the Spanish. The construction of Mitla as a ceremonial centre began in 850, and the city was still being expanded when the Spaniards arrived and destroyed it.  The oldest group of buildings has been dated to between 450 and 700 CE and shows architectural features similar to those found at the earlier Monte Alban. The steps to the main ceremonial hall ... Inside the ceremonial hall ... Inner courtyard, the stonework is amazing ... Underground, inside one of the burial chambers ...
Read more