Santiago Day 1

We spent much of today walking through beautiful Santiago in search of the city I last saw in the '80's. Unfortunately it turns out my main landmark, the Hotel Sheraton Carrera, disappeared 5 years ago.





We started out at the Plaza de Armas, which was the scene of some sort a chess tournament today. I asked several older people about the regal old hotel, but no one seemed to have a clue as to where it was. In desperation we stopped for a dessert and coffee and I called an old friend who sent us walking in the right direction.




It turns out the former hotel now houses the equivalent of our State Department. Across the street is The Moneda, the main seat of government. It was along this street that I used to walk when I was working in Chile.




At my friend's suggestion, we hopped on a metro line and went to Los Dominicos, the last stop and the site of a strange mixture of exotic birds and Chilean art.
We are resting up before heading back out to dinner, which never begins before 8:00 pm in this part of the world.
The weather in Santiago is picture perfect and we seem to be making ourselves understood in Spanish. I am really encouraged by being able to walk long distances without a lot of effort.
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Location:Orly Hotel, Santiago, Chile