It’s winter in Santiago de Chile, I’m going for a walk to clear my head from the flight. I head to the river and walk through the beautiful neighbourhood that takes me to the Cerro de San Cristóbal cable car and I decide to take it to Cumbre. I am still impressed by the setting that surrounds this city, the impressive snow-capped peaks leave me speechless.
From Cumbre I take the funicular to the foot of the hill, where I find the colourful and bohemian neighbourhood of Bellavista, adorned with murals.
There is La Chascona house museum, one of the residences of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. It’s Sunday and it’s open, so I visit it. Photographs are not allowed, it is divided into three parts. It is very eclectic, he loved the sea so many of the decorations emulate waves and boats. I loved it, I think is fun.
I return the same way I came, I am hungry, it’s voting day so everything is closed, even the shopping centre that is located in the most modern and tallest building in the city, the Costanera. But next to it is the Sushi Ban Los Leones that is always open, a life saver! There I stock up on vegan sushi and I go to rest.
In the morning I get up early to start my day trip to the Pacific Ocean. The metro opens at 6am and I take it to the Central Bus Station. I haven’t bought the ticket yet to take the Flixbus, yes, the bright green buses that you see in many European cities. As the office does not open until 7am I buy it online, be careful, look carefully, because I bought the one at 7:05, which is the one that comes from the other station called Pajaritos and leaves at that time, by the time it arrived it was already late for my ticket.The friendly girl in the office exchanged it for me for a small price, the one way ticket costs about 5 or 6 euros.
In an hour and a little I arrive at the bus station of Viña del Mar, my destination. Viña is famous for its music festival, my mother always tells me about it because her favourite singer performed there, maybe this is the reason why I came here today.
I begin my walk through this land on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and a holiday destination. It is winter and the city is quiet. I start at the Quinta Vergara park, where the amphitheatre and stage of the famous Song Festival is located.
The Vergara Palace is now a museum, (closed on Mondays), and it has a very beautiful garden that I enjoy visiting, and guess what, I make doggy friends. José Francisco Vergara founded Viña del Mar and then built this palace in 1910.
I left the Quinta and passed through the square next to the Viña del Mar Chapel, where they set up a little arts and crafts market.
I keep walking and make a pit stop to secure some empanadas. I pass by the most beautiful colonial buildings, one is a school, another the headquarters of the Red Cross.
I arrive at one of the most visited places, the Flower Clock, created by a Swiss clockmaker and acquired in 1962 to beautify the city when celebrating the World Cup.
Nearby is Abarca beach, and the promenade by the sea, Marina Avenue. The one I walk around and get wet on, the waves are a little wild.
The Presidential Palace enjoys good views. And the Wuff Castle, another of Viña’s iconic places, juts out to the sea. The mansion was built by a German businessman in the 20th century.
I continue walking and it looks like the sun is shining. I see “Cap Ducal” a restaurant that looks like a boat. I cross a bridge that is over a sea entrance, something like a river, to reach the Casino.
Although it’s winter the day is incredible, I love walking by the sea, so I decide that I’m not going to go to Valpo, (as they call Valparaíso), that was my initial plan, the fact that the day is shorter also helps me decide, instead I arrive at the Vergara pier, I take off my shoes and walk on that black sand, there I meet Yubi, with whom I spend three hours chatting about life, two big stray dogs lie down next to us for the full three hours, we believe they like our energy.
At the end of the day I go back to the station, take another Flixbus to Santiago and on the way I read “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus, a very popular novel on instagram, very funny and with a feminist background. The protagonist Elizabeth Zott is a single mother and chemist in the 50s, after leaving her job where she is not taken seriously, she accepts an offer on a cooking channel, which becomes the most popular in the country, not only teaches her listeners how to cook, but also shows them chemistry of the elements and encourages them to challenge the established order.
