Exploring Santiago – Day 2: Week 12 / Day 82 / April 2
Santiago, Chile: Our first order of business for the day was to head down to the store we were told to go to last night so that we could buy soccer tickets. The store (Hites – a department store; very odd) is located down at Plaza de Armas where we were yesterday, but no harm in exploring the area a bit more.
We left our apartment and headed in the direction of Plaza de Armas. Along the way we passed a church (the Church of the True Cross) and went through the park we saw yesterday (Santa Lućia Park).
We saw a lot of people in the park and quite a few interesting plants / trees. Past the park we also went by some interesting looking buildings.
The first building looks like it should be on the cover of a high school geometry textbook, but that is probably just me.
When we got to the Hites it took us a while to figure out where we needed to go to get the tickets. When we got to the fifth floor, there was already a long line at the counter, but at least there was a sign clearly stating “Futbol Tickets” and the name of the ticket service.
Alas, our trip still ended up being in vain. Once we got to the front of the line, we discovered that this location is where one comes to pick up tickets after ordering them online (an odd process in my opinion). I could not buy tickets at this counter, I could only have them printed out and handed to me. Unfortunately, given the language difficulties, I have been unable to make much headway on the website. So, no soccer tonight, but there is another match on Friday.
Leaving the Hites store, we walked around a bit more to see some of the other buildings in the area.
We eventually ended up at the Presidential Palace. We did not tour this building, but continued to walk through the nearby neighborhood.
Given our lack of success at the Mercado Central yesterday, we decided to seek out some other markets today. Our target was La Vega de Central. On our way there we passed an entire section of tarot card readers and fortune tellers.
Upon arriving at the La Vega, we first saw an area that had the potential to hold me for hours – a flower market.
Surprisingly, I was able to make my way through there quickly and take less than 2,000 pictures. Leaving the flower market, we entered La Vega Chica (Little Vega).
Although it is the “Little” market, it already had more stalls than all of the Mercado Central from yesterday. Leaving La Vega Chica, we headed over to La Vega itself.
By contrast to what we saw at Mercado Central, this market is simply enormous. Looking down one of the seven or so rows of stalls, it appears that this market extends for several hundred meters.
Walking through the aisles, it became apparent that the Chileans have a taste for pickled things.
The quantity and variety of meat and produce being sold was amazing. This entire market was almost entirely food goods (produce, meat, spices,…) with a small amount set aside for small restaurant stalls and sale of packaging type goods (plates, bowls,…). I believe among all of the places I have seen on this trip, this is the largest and most expansive market I have been to. As I said to Linda as we were leaving, “There is a definite leader in the clubhouse for best market in the world, and Argentina is going to have to come up with something special if it wants to beat this.”
We wandered the market for quite a time, buying some tomatoes, grapes, and potatoes while we were there.
Leaving the market, we headed back to our apartment. On our way, we crossed over the mighty Mapocho River that runs through central Santiago.
I am assuming that it is more impressive at other times of the year – or at least over mid-calf height. After resting a bit at the apartment, we went back out to get some dinner and then called it a day.
