A Top Day in Santiago de Chile

My top day in Santiago starts with a coffee in my local park at Cafe Literario, a library-cafe-bookshop in the middle of the long Parque Balmacea. What an amazing quiet retreat this is from the noisy Plaza d'Italia only a hundred metres away. Santiago is fond of free reading parks as well as free wifi here and everwhere. You can conduct your business on the terrace overlooking dogs playing in the fountain with your own picnic breakfast from the bakery, perhaps even an empenada at this early hour. E-mails sent, it is now time to aprovechar and take advantage of a every opportunity in the day.

Central Santiago and the Santa Lucia hill.

Plaza d'Italia is pretty much the geographical centre of town. From here I would head down boulevard Bernardo O'Higgins which is the main throughfare named after a Chilean-Irish independence hero. It's more popularly known as the 'Alemada' an arabic word for an avenue with trees and green recreational space. The first stop is a quick hike up the central hill, Cerro Santa Lucia, for a great overview of town. Then continue on the Alemada past the national Library and Club de la Union, both grand old buildings. Next to the San Francisco Church, stroll down the incredibly charming Paris and London streets winding your way to La Moneda for 11am where every other day there is a changing of the guard. Show your ID for a snoop around this predidential palace before going down into the beutiful underground museum for the latest hot exhibit in town.

Centro Cultural de la Moneda, the underground museum

Now it is time to hit the real centro. Take any of the pedestrian shopping streets from here to Plaza de Armas. For some local flavor, pick up a sweet huesillo corn drink en route, from pretty much any street corner. The drink may look strange, but you'll be glad you tried it I'm sure. The Plaza de Armas is always active with chessplayers if you are up for an impomptu game.

Plaza de Armas – the plaza major – if the giant gazebo is not filled with old men playing chess, a police ban sometimes plays music Thurs-Sunday.

You might now be getting hungry as the sun is shifting it's shadow along the square's palm trees. Make tracks north to the Mercado Central, a small but very interesting fish market. Here you may be solicited to some of the bigger restaurants in the fish market. These are the expensive ones so be sure to make your own choice among the smaller restos for a fresh seafood lunch to remember.

Some of the rarest seafood in the world is on offer in Chile. You have not been to Chile if you have not tried the fried eel. Pablo Neruda even confessed his love for congrito frito in his poetry. Try the menu del dia at small restaurants. It is usually an excellent value and comprises three simple but traditional corses often with a drink included.

Luckily for you the best neighborhoods are still to be explored and walk off that eel. I would head directly for the Museo Bellas Artes, carrying on through the Parco Forrestal. Both bear a leafy resemblence to Paris that is uncanny. Now duck into the little neighborhood of Lastarria that feels so perfect it could almost be a movie set. Lastarria is like a secret neighbourhood right in the centre of the town. It is quiet and peaceful - there are few cars. On the actual Lastarria street you will find many cafes. This is an ideal time to stop for a Pisco Sour at any of the leafy street cafes. Or, take an ice cream from Emporio La Rosa across the street and into the Parisian style park. My pick is the chocolate and chili.

Patio Bellavista - a regenerated area of slick restaurants, cafes and live music bars.

Around 6pm, I would double back to the Piojera for a truly local experience with hundreds of Chilenos who are trying their luck with the Terremoto - a dangerous drink that is a pint of wine with a scoop of pineapple ice cream and splash of sherry. Limit yourself to one by using the excuse that you must leave to see the beautiful bohemian streets of bellavista in search for dinner.
It´s only a short walk through along the river and through the park to Bellavista. For international cuisine you could go to the always popular Como Agua Para Chocolate on Constetucion. But if you are here for one night only I would rather dine with the locals in El Caramano where they have traditional Chilean fare and one of the best Pastel de Choclo's in town.

Either way, start the nightlife off with somewhere along the hordes of student cafes that line Pio Nono. Order a pitcher or maybe a piscola to get your night moving. This street can get a little rowdy towards midnight. So head over to the other side of the Bellavista to one of the new and spacious live music bars in Bellavista 'Patio', or perhaps Bar Consticucion for dancing till dawn - par for the course in Santiago.

Tomorrow I think I'll take a full day trip to Valparaiso by the sea, if only to long lunch on the terrace of cafe Turri again.  Either way I can assure you I will end my Santiago visit at a traditional neighborhood greasy spoon for a Lomito, like the one they serve up in the Fuente Alemana, right back where you started at Plaza dÍtalia.  Heaven on earth.