Un viaje al Centro (Downtown)

The trip downtown was great. Downtown Santiago is a bustling place, tons of people everywhere, a lot to see and very rich in history. The Presidential Palace - La Moneda (the coin) is located right there in town. Tia Luci and Tio Hugo know a lot about the country's history and told us of the weekly riots that took place in front of the palace and how the palace was set on fire when the dictator, Pinochet, took control. Tio Hugo said the surrounding buildings were covered in bullet holes. Even from where we were standing, we could see a string of bullet holes in the building directly across the street from the Palace. Today, the palace is an office building for government workers.

Below the palace is a museum displaying the works of various artists (not necessarily from Chile). One of the artists being highlighted was a Mexican woman who was a painter. We aren't sure why she was famous, but apparently, she had some kind of illness which made her bedridden and she used to paint on a canvas suspended above her bed while laying down. The museum goes about 3 floors underground. Tio Hugo said Pinochet used to hide under the palace and that there is a tunnel that connects the palace to one of the neighboring buildings - used as an escape route.

There are police (guards) everywhere you look so the area is completely secure. Every 2 days there is a 'changing of the guard,' where there is some kind of parade of sorts for the event. The next changing of the guard is on Saturday morning, if we can get back to Downtown, we'll try to be there to see it.

Next year is Chile's Independence Day will be extra special as it is the 200th anniversary (Bicentennial) of Chile's independence from Spain. Tia Luci suggested we come back next year as the entire country will be a huge celebration. We'll have to save a lot of pesos to do this because the next time we come back, we want it to be with all 5 of us.