Santiago: Reconnecting with Friends
Our visit to Santigo was far from touristic. I lived there for a couple of years, some 15 years ago. It was a formative period of my life, the first time that I was living away from home. I made friendships that have survived time and distance. Our stay in Santiago had one specific purpose: connecting with old friends. It was James’ and Vienna’s first time in the city, so we explored a little bit but in a leisurely way.
After staying in many places in Latin America, Santiago suddenly felt very modern. It has a functional seven-line metro system, the largest in South America. A network of highways and tunnels connect the city. Santiago is home to several skyscrapers, one of which is the tallest in South America (Costanera Center). Also you might notice the cars on the roads are newer models (similar to the USA) compared with many other parts of the continent. After hitting the road in Patagonia for a month, this was the perfect place to unwind and reconnect with the past.
Here is a compilation of unrelated, personal reflections from our time in Santiago with friends. Along the way you might find a couple of tips about the city itself.
Educating ourselves on education
When I went to grad school in Santiago, I lived with Edith and her family. She is a single mom of two girls who were teenagers at the time. Edith is an educator, and when I lived there she had opened her own pre-school in the neighborhood. Through time I came to understand Edith’s passion for providing young kids with spaces and opportunities to grow and be themselves.
She transmitted her passion to the next generation, and now the family has two schools (Almeraki Escuelita Libre y Feliz) directed by her older daughter, Marlene. They follow the Lefebre Lever philosophy where learning happens through experience and based on each individual’s biological rhythm. There is some overlap with the Montessori and Waldorf learning methods.
We had an extensive chat with Edith and Marlene on early childhood education. As we prepare to enroll our daughter in school in the next couple of years, conversations like this are a great opportunity to understand the type of education we want for her. We also visited one of the schools and our daughter was invited to join for an art session.
I will be forever grateful to Edith and her family for being my family abroad, for keeping friendship through time, and for educating me on education.
Re-living the wine tradition in Santiago with Friends
I’ll allow myself to change gears from education to wine. If you live in any country where alcohol is legal, you have probably stumbled across a bottle of Chilean wine. The country is one of the largest wine producers in the world. When I lived in Chile, I used to treat myself to some wine of great quality once in a while, which happened to be very cheap. To honor the old lifestyle, my friends arranged for a visit to a Vendimia in Santiago. Vendimias are usually festivals to celebrate the grape harvest. In the city, usually several wineries provide tastings of their produce.
After having lunch in a casual, kid-friendly place, we treated ourselves to a few wine samples at a Vendimia Festival. It was great to do it with my two closest chilean friends and their families while getting a buzz!
Re-visiting the historic center
During our short “touristic” time in Santiago, we visited the traditional city center close to Plaza de Armas and La Moneda Cultural Center (a favorite of mine to watch independent films in Santiago), located just behind La Moneda Palace. We also walked up the Cerro Santa Lucia where you can get a great view of the city without going too far.
But we also visited neighborhoods where my memory was fading. Among them is Yungay, famous now because that’s where the sitting president Gabriel Boric lives. It’s a traditional neighborhood with some 100-year-old buildings cohabiting or hosting artistic murals giving it a bohemian feeling. It also hosts a variety of museums.
Refreshing historic memory
When I moved to Chile, something I noticed shortly after my arrival was the impact of the Pinochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. Although it seemed part of an unspeakable past, the wounds of the violence were out in the open. In 2010, shortly after I left Chile, the Museum of Memory and Human Rights was inaugurated in the Yungay neighborhood. A visit to this place takes you through a journey of injustice, torture, violence and human degradation. Created as a way to dignify the victims, this is also a reminder of the reaches of power. If you are in Santiago and would like to connect with Chile’s past, this place is a must.
Santiago with kids
Although we had a relatively short visit to Santiago, we found it to be a child-friendly city. If you are close to the Las Condes neighborhood, a visit to Parque Bicentenario is highly recommended. It has several playgrounds for different ages, a lake with swans (at certain times of the year you can also see flamingos), food trucks, sculptures and plenty of space to run, jog or walk. Another favorite of ours was Parque Ines de Suarez in Providencia, it also has playgrounds and green spaces. As for restaurants, there are many family-friendly places. Our local friends introduced us to Patio Echeñique, a great informal place with a playground and games for kids.
Where did we stay?
Santiago is one of the most expensive cities in Latin America. We took advantage of our IHG points, and started out in the Holiday Inn Las Condes for a few nights. It was a great location to access the Bicentenario Park, and we could enjoy some restaurants around. We also stayed in an aparta-hotel in Providencia, a lively neighborhood with easy transportation and close to Parque Ines de Suarez.
Santiago in a Nutshell
Population: 5.6 million
Lodging Price Range: $100-$180
What did we like the most? Connecting in Santiago with old friends, meeting their families and getting up to speed with what changes have come over the years
What was challenging? Connecting with old friends meant a lot of talking in fast Chilean Spanish. That is sometimes challenging even for native Spanish speakers like me!
