Central Santiago
Our room at Hotel Foresta was comfortable enough but the heating system initially failed and when restored was not much better. We were provided with a hot air blower.
We walked into the centre and had along breakfast at the Argentine owned Cafe Bonafide.
Santiago has a lot more pedestrianisation than Buenos Aires. Streets are clean and well maintained and public buildings seem well cared for. It all gave the impression of a properly funded public sector and was quite unlike any city I have seen so far in South America.
Central Post Office. Correos de Chile is an autonomous state enterprise and seems to be thriving as such. An interesting contrast to the privatised Argentine system and the sad decline of the Royal mail.
Plaza de Armas with Catederal Metropolitana in the background.
Interior Catederal Metropolitana.
Plaza de Armas - north side.
Bandstand Plaza de Armas.
Universidad Catolica station. Santiago's Metro system is something else. It opened in 1975 with rolling stock supplied by the French company Alstom. Most cars seem to have been built in France with newer ones coming from Brazil. The system is reasonably priced and very clean. We never had to wait very long for a train.
We walked into the centre and had along breakfast at the Argentine owned Cafe Bonafide.
Santiago has a lot more pedestrianisation than Buenos Aires. Streets are clean and well maintained and public buildings seem well cared for. It all gave the impression of a properly funded public sector and was quite unlike any city I have seen so far in South America.
Central Post Office. Correos de Chile is an autonomous state enterprise and seems to be thriving as such. An interesting contrast to the privatised Argentine system and the sad decline of the Royal mail.
Plaza de Armas with Catederal Metropolitana in the background.
Interior Catederal Metropolitana.
Plaza de Armas - north side.
Bandstand Plaza de Armas.
Universidad Catolica station. Santiago's Metro system is something else. It opened in 1975 with rolling stock supplied by the French company Alstom. Most cars seem to have been built in France with newer ones coming from Brazil. The system is reasonably priced and very clean. We never had to wait very long for a train.