March 22nd
Spent the morning chilling in the cottage … drank beer and ate sandwiches. This was our last day and we saw so much. There was not much down time here. LOL
The hostess came to the cottage at 1pm and we paid for the accommodation. She drove us to the airport, thanked us and gave a kiss on each cheek. We thanked her for such great service and accommodations.
Now, we are heading to Santiago tonight for two days. Our flight was booked to go to Buenos Aires via Santiago, but we would have to turn around and come right back so we grabbed our luggage and headed to Centro. Purchasing the airline ticket from Buenos Aires to Easter Island was half the price of flying from Santiago to Easter Island, even though we had to fly out of Santiago. Strange, but true. LOL
March 23rd
A Special Salute to Chilean Police and Soldiers.
After breakfast, we urban hiked around Plaza de Armas, this is a major tourist location in Santiago. We were standing across the street of the Catholic Church admiring the architecture when two police officers on horses came up to us and asked where we were from.
We told them Canada and they asked how we liked Santiago. The one officer had a great sense of humour and said that the Police are very nice here, smiled and shook our hands. They joined four other officers on horses … I asked if it was okay to have my photo taken with them. He told me to stand between the horses … nice. 😊
We crossed the street and checked out the Cathedral Metropolitana, what a beautiful Church. There was a service on at the time so we left to come back at a later time.
About a block away from the Cathedral we stopped to take a few photos of the Ex-Congreso Nacional. What a beautifully architecturally designed building. I just love the pillars and garden.
Next we stopped at the Tribunales de Justicia building and took photos of the reflection of the building in the water ponds on the sidewalk. Very nice.
We walked up to Palacio de La Moneda. On the way we observed some military vehicles parked near the Palace. We took a few photos’ showing the wire mesh on all the windows and the dents in the side of the vehicle from rocks and other items that were thrown at it.
We couldn’t get very close to the Palacio de La Moneda because of guards and temporary fences that were up. There must be some special guests arriving today.
As Charlie went for a run, I walked up to Parque Almagro and then over to Palacio Cousino. Behind the gate, I saw some officers lined up for a special ceremony by the Palace. I asked a gentleman that was raking a garden if it would be okay if I took a photo. He told me, in Spanish, to walk around to the front entrance and go to back to take photos. I thanked him and did just that. As I rounded the side of the building a young lady who also held a camera looked at me with her eyes wide and said, “There is an official police gathering back there, you may not want to go.” I thanked her and indicated that I was headed there specifically. As I came around to the back of the Palace, I saw all the officers lined up and one gentleman was on the phone. He looked at me and his eyes went wide, I thought, “Oh,oh”. I pointed to my camera and he came over to me. He hung up his phone and pointed for me to go ahead and take photos. I didn’t want to interrupt their ceremony so I walked around the edge. The gentleman who said it was okay to take photos came up behind me and grabbed my camera and told me to go stand by the officers. I stood on the outside and he said, “No, stand on the other side.” All the officers smiled at me as I walked in front of them and then stood to their side. He took the photos and I finished taking a few more pics then left. That was a totally unexpected cool moment. 😊
Charlie and I met at the fountain in Parque Almagro and headed back to Palacio de La Moneda. On our way back we were at the crosswalk beside the military vehicles we saw on the way up. We went over to the vehicles to take some closer photos and they kindly opened their door to the big vehicle to show us the inside. This vehicle is equipped with two water sprayers that are individually controlled. It was pretty cool to see.
Today my highlight was meeting some awesome police officers and soldiers that were very welcoming. A great day in Santiago!
