My Favorite Underrated Cities: Part 1-b, Santiago
The cities that I love even though everyone told me not to stay for long
Part 1-a, Santiago is here: https://medium.com/@kt0909/my-favorite-underrated-cities-part-1a-santiago-9f840319bb34
More about this lovely Chilean city.
The city, its arts and culture
I forgot to mention that the weather was constantly perfect throughout the 5 days that I was there in March. It was no longer peak summer, so the daily temperature would range mostly between 18 and 25 degrees. It’s one of those cities where most of the interesting places are located about 20–30 minutes walking distance away from one another. I would usually Uber to one of the museums or places for maybe 5–6 dollars, and then walk for an entire day to hit up every spot I wanted to visit.
There are several great museums in Santiago. I didn’t have the chance to visit all that I wanted because of the opening hours, but the Museum of Memory and Human Rights had a very impactful, regular exhibition about their history of dictatorship and oppression, the impacted families, and some people’s unjust disappearance in this process.
Upon entering the museum, there was a huge world map whose shape was made up of pictures of past oppressions in the corresponding regions. At the end of the hallway hung a horizontal banner that said, “Como llegamos a negar la humanidad de las personas” (How do we come to deny the humanity of people?)
The museum is incredibly beautiful in terms of its interior designs. I loved the space before I even began to understand the messages.
The main theme of the museum was to reflect on the violations conducted between 1973 to 1990 by the military dictatorship in Chile. On September 11, 1973, a coup d’etat was staged to overthrow the government of Salvador Allende. The museum aims to provide visibility to the truth, a commemoration for the impacted, and a space for reflection.
I began searching Chilean recent history for a quick crash course as I stood inside the museum so that I would understand the content better.
Even with no prior knowledge or personal resonation with Chilean history, I could not help but feel very compassionately for the victims. Some of them are either my age or still teenagers even. Statistics quantify the impact effectively, but when each and every one of their personal information and story is displayed — they are only human like you and me.
I have never been a politically active person of any kind, but the strong display of humanity and collective memories provoked compassion and humanity in me. In the words of the museum, how do we come to deny the humanity of people? I stood in front of the beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the plaza outside, deep in my thoughts.
Another museum that I enjoyed was the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts). This exhibition was a bit more light-hearted, but very aesthetically satisfying to experience.
The first part of the museum was also about the victims of the same event on September 11, 1973.
The City
Some neighborhoods are genuinely quite beautiful and walkable. In fact, I think the city itself is quite aesthetic in general, whether that’s the interior designs of the stores or the architectural structures. In the Lastarria neighborhood for example (next to Cerro Santa Lucia), there are a lot of small nice places to hang out at. Below is a random collection of places that I found pleasing to my eyes.
A bookstore:
Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center and its surroundings:
There’s also a walking area in the neighborhood that has a lot of small stalls and restaurants with good vibes. It does seem a little touristy and gentrified, but overall quite nice.
In the city center (I think it is) of Plaza del Armas, there are a couple of blocks where you can walk around. It’s very beautiful as well. I wanted to visit the Monetary museum, but I went too late and it was about to close.
There’s a massive pedestrian area near Plaza del Armas which felt almost like the Madrid city center area, where Sol station connects to Gran Via.
After the little walk, I took around the center, I headed to the other hill in the city, Santa Lucia, for sunset. In full honesty, I was just wandering around and saw this building that looked interesting so I asked the guy at the door if it was open to the public. Only when I walked up the stairs did I realize it had a panoramic view of the city, but from a different angle compared to Sky Costanera or Cerro San Cristobal.
The city looked so beautiful at golden hour.
San Cristobal is at the background. That’s where I went a few days prior and walked down from.
I really enjoyed this place because it had three levels with plenty of benches where people can sit and hang out. Couples, friends, people coming up with their headphones in, and those who sat by the border sketching. It was a relaxing vibe and I was able to take a comfortable break in their perfect temperature with the beautiful view of Santiago.
I found it amusing to see that the Santiago police had uniforms that looked like the one I had to wear for my military training. For reference, here is a photo I took in the city center:
This is our one…
The nightlife
Many clubs and bars are located in the neighborhood of Bellavista. I went there on a Saturday night by myself and just hopped around different places. The sunset was at about 8:30 pm, and I think none of the clubs would be remotely alive by 11 pm or midnight.
My initial plan was to hit up a bar to watch some drag shows that were advertised, which were supposed to begin at 10:30 pm. I walked past it close to 11 pm, and the whole place looked dead. A drag queen was half-performing in a near-empty space. No way I was about to enter. Luckily, most gay places there were located close to one another. I dropped by another gay club that had some sort of promotion going on, I went and thought it looked sketchy. Some other guests who were about to enter saw that I looked lost and asked me if I was going to enter. We got talking, and I decided I’d join them to enter first to get a stamp, in case it got better later in the night. Now I was in the company of a Colombian and a Venezuelan.
We ended up going to a famous bar across the street. It was quite crowded but wasn’t really a dance bar. Everyone seemed to have their own drinks and just check out one another. I left the bar after about half an hour because it was too hot inside.
This was around 12:30 am. I continued exploring down the street to find queues for two clubs next to each other. I spoke with whoever standing outside and asked them which one was better. Turned out I was speaking to a group of 20-year-old Brazilians who also had no idea. Now I had another group to tag along, so I entered one called Club Soda.
There were three areas inside. One was a roofless bar and sofa area, another played English pop songs (that one was so empty), and the last one played reggaeton, which was filled with people but not overwhelming. I ended up dancing with a few different groups for a while, made some friends, and called it a night. I’m still in touch with a guy from Sao Paulo who has since helped me practice Portuguese with voice notes haha.
Disclaimer: Some locals have warned me about the safety issue in this area. After accidentally seeing the infamous crack lane of Sao Paulo, I felt a lot more at ease in general. I personally didn’t feel like it seemed sketchy, considering how many people are always out on the streets, and the fact that all the streets with clubs were very well illuminated. Stay alert but don’t overreact if you visit!
Chile was probably among the top 3 countries that I liked from South America, but for the sake of transparency, I want to also show some of the parts that I didn’t quite enjoy about Santiago and Chile in general.
The food
The food in Chile that I tried was largely what we describe as “very white” in our culture: hot dogs, sandwiches, or burgers with fries. Or sometimes there was pasta, or rice with a piece of meat and not much flavor. If there was sauce, it was usually mustard or ketchup. Several times during my week in Chile, I thought I accidentally stepped foot in Vienna once again with the plates they served me.
My strategy was then to just eat as cheaply as possible to save up. One day, I got myself a “completo”. I knew it was a hot dog. Inferring from the name, I went to the lady and asked for a “completo”, thinking it meant a hot dog with ALL the toppings they had. Then she asked me, “Italiano?” I was confused but I just said yes, and she started preparing my order. Turned out, a completo is just what they call a hotdog with toppings. “Completo Italiano” means hotdog with guacamole and tomatoes. As shown in the picture below that I got from the internet:
Because I hate raw tomatoes, I ended up using my fingers to pick out all the tomatoes off of the guacamole on the side of the road at 10 pm. I was not very impressed by the rest of the hotdog either, but I’m sure if I seriously looked for a more famous spot and ordered a flavor of my liking, it would be decent.
Another day, I got myself a sandwich with beef, guacamole, and mayonnaise. I was happy to have been able to unselect the tomatoes this time and saved 80 cents USD. I opened my takeout box as I arrived at the Airbnb and realized… they gave me more mayo than any of the other ingredients. I don’t think any experience in my life before had prepared me for the shock at the presentation.
So I dismantled the sandwich and started using a spoon and a paper to take out most of the mayonnaise. I genuinely thought it would be like… a thin layer in between the bread and the meat? Anyway.
Vinas del Mar and Valparaiso
Valparaiso and Vinas del Mar are two coastal cities located about 1 hour outside of Santiago. It’s one of those places that are really hyped up, and if you Google “what to do in Santiago”, Valparaiso will probably come up on top. My Brazilian friend Lincoln had warned me about a city of exactly this nature which I just described. He told me that the city is very overhyped and that all the Brazilians go there — but I had forgotten about the name to match the descriptions. Well, I went and I don’t think I have done a day trip that was as boring and underwhelming as this.
So as usual, I managed to book a day trip to check it out for cheap. The tour began at 7 am and took us back to the accommodation at 4 pm. We got there, and the sky was extremely clouded and very cold. I don’t know why, from Santiago city to the seaside, being only about 60 kilometers away and lower in elevation, the temperature dropped 5–10 degrees.
The tour felt like a photo-taking tour, yet lacking in experience-based activities. We would get off a spot, take some pictures of the streets and the “sea view”, and had to return to the bus for the following schedule. I think the worst part was that the views were really so… ordinary that I had zero desire to take pictures. I know a bit part of it was because my senses were constantly stimulated by beautiful things for the last few months in a row, I was constantly unimpressed by things.
The streets just felt like an uglier version of Lisbon, or a non-touristy quiet village Portuguese town, but less pretty.
My tour consisted of largely, half Brazilians and half Spanish old ladies, so the tour was conducted bilingually in Portuguese and Spanish. It was when Lincoln’s comment suddenly clicked in my head that he was indeed talking about Valparaiso. I thought it was fine and I understood Spanish enough to not feel confused, but it was difficult to make friends solo in that setting where everyone came with their whole family.
I was cold the whole time on the trip until maybe noon when it finally warmed up a little. The streets were also weirdly VERY quiet. To the point where I can count on one hand how many stores or restaurants were open. Before lunch, the bus stopped again by the shore. Turned out the “site” there was some unimpressive-looking clock and seagulls. I was so done with it. The tour guide asked me “Don’t you want to take a picture?” I said no I’m good. Later Miss Thing sassed me by commenting, “Oh now you want to take photos.” when she saw me taking a photo at the street fair. Like just shut up.
Our lunch was not included in the tour price, but we all got taken to a restaurant in Vina del Mar. A kind Brazilian couple that I briefly conversed with invited me to join their table. I say down, looked at the menu and their overpriced items, I excused myself from the couple and went to tell the tour guide that I didn’t want to eat here, so I would be getting my own lunch outside. I earned a 2-hour free time to wander around Vinas del Mar, and it was probably my favorite time during the entire tour.
I walked along the seaside and explored the town of Vinas del Mar a little. I found a local restaurant serving local lunch sets for 7 dollars that only had 3 tables, making up 6 seats on the side of the street. I started speaking with an elder Chilean man, and he began sharing a bunch of locations to visit and told me about Chilean history as I consumed my soup. I love these chance encounters and random conversations during my travels. I love people more places.
I got myself a cup of iced coffee from Starbucks and sat by the ocean to pass the time, until the time to return to Santiago. Safe to say, I gained a new-found appreciation for the city of Santiago after seeing how the other ones were.
