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We set out to check out downtown Santiago. The Metro subway is fantastic, and puts the Muni to shame. For about 80 cents US (not too sure because we're still trying to figure out the conversion and exactly what type of ticket we bought), we were downtown in less than 10 minutes.

We hiked up to the top of Santa Lucia park and gardens where there is an old castle (Castillo Hidalgo) that overlooks much of the city. At that point it was still a little overcast, so we couldn't see too much of the Andes in the distance, but it was pretty amazing. Santiago is huge. Pockets of high-rises stretching out for miles, er kilometers.

We then walked through the Bellavista neighborhood, which has many restaurants, street craft vendors, and cafes to the base of the Cerro San Cristobal. There, we conducted our most successful transaction en Espanol to date, buying round trip tickets up the Funicular, including zoo admission at the midway point. The Funicular is essentially a SF cable car, differing by the above-ground cable, but sharing the goal of pulling passengers up a very steep incline.

We got off about a third of the way up the hill (hardly a hill, topping off at close to 900 meters), to visit the zoo. While I'm not sure that I really know, the zoo reminded me of what zoos were like 30-50 years ago. It was a bit sad, but still very entertaining, and given the weather, a great time out. The cages were a bit sparse, but the animals were great as always. And there was the added educational bonus of reading the animal names and plaques and attempting to translate them from Spanish.

After a couple hours of lobos marinos, jirafos and osos, we got back on the funicular to ride to the top of the hill. As luck would have it, we ended up in the car that propelled Pope John Paul II up to the top on April 1st, 1987 (or so the plaque said, we think). Atop the hill, there is a beautiful terrace again overlooking the city. Yes, city views seem to be a bit of a theme so far.

We also had the opportunity to sample a few more traditional Chilean treats. An empanada con carne, and mote con huesillo. The former being a fried pastry with meat, olives, onions, and egg. The latter being something that looked awfully scary looking, but tasting quite good (apricot in tea, essentially).

The rest of the day was spent milling about artisan booths, drinking cafe, and later enjoying a fantastic dinner.

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