On to Chile

On Thursday April 30 we flew from Mendoza to Santiago, Chile to spend the next week.  We were met at the airport by Hector, from whom we had rented an apartment.  The apartment is well-located and a convenient walk to most of the major sights.  The complex consists of four towers (we were in Torre B) with a large supermarket next door.  The next day (May Day) was a  national holiday, with most shops closed, so we braved the crowds at the grocery store (35 minutes in the check-out line, sort of like Thanksgiving or Christmas Eves at Byerly's).

The Tower Opposite Our Tower

Living Area

Nick at Work on the Computer

On Friday we located the Hop On/Off bus and toured the town for a couple of hours.  We had been warned to avoid May Day Demonstrations, and we could hear some of it from the roof of our building. While the police were very much in evidence, we only saw people who'd finished their participation and were carrying rolled-up banners.

Mounted Police (Carabineros de Chile) at the Plaza de Armas

 The bus tour, with excellent audio narration in English, took us from the city center through the Providencia and Golf areas, home to many high rise office buildings, hotel chains, and foreign embassies.  The U.S. embassy relocated from Avenida Estados Unidos in the center to the multi-lane Avenida Presidente Kennedy in El Golf, also known as Sanhatten, a financial and hotel district dating from the 1990's.

                                                     The Teatro Municipal (1857)

Avenida Providencia

Along the Avenida Presidente Kennedy, With the Gran Torre Santiago in the Distance

The Gran Torre Santiago, the Tallest Building in Latin America and the Second Tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. (There's a Taller One in Australia.)

A Colorful Building in the Bellavista Neighborhood