R. Doug Wicker — Author

Plaza de Armas

Ursula found us a very nice furnished apartment for our brief stay in Santiago.  It was the Altura Suites at 547 Calle Huérfanos, which is very near Santa Lucía Hill and within easy walking distance of Plaza de Armas (the main square of Santiago), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Art), and mere minutes from the pedestrianized portion of Calle Huérfanos with it’s myriad higher-end shops, bars, and restaurants.  In other words, this is a very convenient location from which to begin your exploration of Santiago.  The only complaints I have are that the apartment we had was not air conditioned, and Santiago was experiencing a rather extreme heatwave at the time.  Thus, we had to open the balcony doors to cool off, and nearby were some rather loud and obnoxious continuously barking dogs that shattered the peace and quiet all throughout the night.  Don’t you just hate irresponsible pet owners?

The pedestrianized portion of Calle Huérfanos

Here is a fun composition of a moped I snapped near the Museum of Fine Arts:

Moped at the Museum of Fine Art

Plaza de Armas was once the seat of government for Chile, and many historically important buildings with incredible façades surround this square.  Chilean flags fly everywhere here.

Plaza de Armas

Now for some additional street scenes from Santiago: