SANTIAGO - CHILE'S GREAT CITY
By Ray Chatelin
(For Travel Writers' Tales)

Imagine visiting Paris and ignoring Montmartre. Would you miss Chinatown when visiting San Francisco, pass on New York's Greenwich Village, Boston's North End, or London's West End?

It's no different when visiting South American cities. Like me, many visitors to the major cities on this varied and complex continent arrive on a cruise – or will be after the Corvid-19 is finally over. So, often there's limited time to explore.

Modern Santiago's highrise apartments

Yes, every city has individual highlights. In Buenos Aries it's Eva Peron's gravesite and a visit to La Boca, a working-class barrio where the Tango was born. In Rio de Janeiro take the tram up Corcovado and photograph the Christ The Redeemer statue. And in Lima a must-see site is the pre-Inca temple Hauca Pucllana, about 900 years older than the more famous Temple of the Sun at Machu Piccu.

A typical cafe in Santiago's Bellavista District

But, for a glimpse into the heart and soul of a city, there are must-see neighborhoods that make each city visit memorable. And in Santiago, Chile's capital, financial center, and a major South American cruise embarkation point, that must-see neighborhood is Bellavista.

An artist at work in Santiago's downtown

Santiago offers a wide range of cultural attractions and neighborhoods that will keep you busy for days. It has two symphony orchestras, one of South America's finest opera companies, contemporary and tradition art galleries, 16 major museums, and 33 public and private universities.

But, with a just a day or two before your cruise ship leaves from nearby Valparaiso - a 90-minute bus ride from downtown Santiago - using your time to explore is precious.

The barrio may be a relatively small enclave in a city of six million-plus inhabitants, yet it defines the character and heart of Santiago itself. And it's just below the funicular to Cerro San Cristobal (San Cristobal Hill), a major tourist site that's home to the statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, the city's landmark.

This bohemian-like neighborhood with its French influences in architecture, culture and feel, has streets lined with trees and a variety of colorful old homes, many of which have been converted into restaurants and studios for artists and musicians.

Plaza de Armas

It's where you want to be day or evening, eating inside or out at one of the many cozy bistros. Nighttime fun begins sometime around 10 pm and lasts well into the early mornings as pubs and nightclubs close around 4 am. Usually the only people dining between 6-9 pm are North American and European tourists.

Between Calle Constitucion and Pio Nono is Patio Bellavista, an enclosed, modern plaza and the usual drop-off point for taxis. Locals eat, shop, and explore the stores selling anything from clothing to a wine shop that has Chilean whites, reds, and champagne-method wines that you won't find back home.

Along Calle Dardignac, the area's trendiest street, dozens of restaurants and bars stand side by side. One of my favorites is the Cava de Dardignac, located at Dardignac 0191. It's renowned for having pioneered the ‘tabla' - a local version of smorgasbord that makes ideal nibbling while sipping your Cabernet Sauvignon.

When you've tired of eating and shopping, explore La Chascona, the home once owned by Chile's Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda. The home was built to resemble a ship and its unusually shaped rooms wind around a compact courtyard. The home is headquarters for the Fundación Pablo Neruda, the organization that provides guided tours.

Courtyard of Pablo Neruda's home

If you're short on time and located at a downtown hotel near the Plaza de Armas, the geographical heart of the city, and want an atmospheric neighborhood similar to Bellavista, head south of the downtown plaza to Barrio Paris-Londres.

This is an intimate, atmospheric neighborhood that captures the spirit of Left Bank Paris with its narrow, cobblestone streets and offbeat galleries and shops.

Most of the houses were built in the 1920's and the streets are now vehicle restricted areas with artist studios, hotels and restaurants.

There is no end to the possibilities in exploring Santiago. The shopping is superb with major malls scattered throughout the city and unique places like Alto las Condes, arguably the most modern shopping center in South America, near the Grand Hyatt Santiago.

Plaza of Aviation

But don't miss The Pueblo Los Dominicos, at the end of Avenue Apoquindo with its 180 handicraft shops offering Chilean traditional and contemporary crafts from all regions of the country.

Don't worry about getting around the city. Most of the taxi drivers, hotel and restaurant employees speak and understand basic English. And the subway is easy to use.

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