This morning we took a free walking tour of Santiago. It was a fabulous way to see the city, learn the history, and discover areas that only the locals know about. The tips about where to go, what to do, and where to eat would have been handy two days ago but still useful... for next time :-).
The tour took 4 hours at a relaxed pace and took us from the Cathedral to the house of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 and was said at the time to “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language”. We discovered more areas of Bella Vista that we didn’t see yesterday as everything starts to open after lunch, the Telefonica building is actually shaped like a mobile phone (think 1999 Ericsson) and is an important landmark if you get lost because it can help you orient yourself to downtown.
We learnt about the Spanish colonisation in the 16th century and their war with the Inca’s (who had invaded from Peru in the 15th century) and the Mapuche people form the south.
Later today we met our tour guide and our new tour group... a total of seven people... and Jack is the only boy, except our Tour guide Alex. It is so nice to be back in a small group. We start our new tour tomorrow.
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