November 30, 2025

Santiago, Chile

Sunday morning. Looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. Still a little smoggy but not too bad. The temperature will be a low of 12C (52F) and a high of 27C (80F). We have decided to get on the Hop On Hop Off bus and see the city. The first bus is at 09:20.

Breakfast is included in our room, so we headed down to breakfast at 08:30 to meet with Richard and Susan. The Mandarin Oriental has a very nice breakfast buffet. They also have a breakfast menu you can order from. It is very much in line with the breakfast buffet at the Excelsior Hotel Gallia in Milano, not the same but close.

After breakfast we headed out to the Parque Arauco Mall where the Turistick Hop on Hop Off bus office and stop 1 is. We got there and got on board just in the nick of time. We bought our tickets on board and used the “coins” given to us by the concierge in the hotel for a discount. The ride is about $40 each person.

The first stop was at Parque Bicentenario, Bi-centennial Park. We didn’t get out here but rode next to the park for a while. The park covers an area of 27 hectares, about 67 acres, which runs along the Mapocho River. It was finished in 2011.

The second stop, actually No. 3, is the Teleférico or cable car. Parquemet, or the Santiago Metropolitan Park, is an urban park located in the middle of the city. It consists of the San Cristóbal, Charcarillas and Los Gemelos hills and the areas of Tupahue, Los Saldés, Pirámide and Bosque Santiago. The park is located between the neighborhoods of Huechuraba, Providencia, Recoleta and Vitacura. It covers 722 hectares (1,780 acres). It is the largest urban park of the Americas and one of the largest in the world.

We got here at Stop 3 and walked into the park and headed towards the cable car. Obviously, this is Sunday and the park is full of families, bikers and joggers. There are a number of people out walking their dogs. The park clearly has a number of playgrounds for children and event centers.

We get to the base of the cable car and there is a short line, but it goes very quickly. The cable car cabins seat four adults in seats facing one another. They look fairly new and well maintained. The cable car was completed in 1980, but has probably been updated a couple times in the last 45 years.

We did see a second cable car line, or at least the towers for a cable car installed from the Costanera center/mall. The new Bicentennial Cable Car is indeed under construction. It will connect Huechuraba and Providencia (near the Costanera Center) via Las Condes and Vitacura. The aim is to improve the connectivity with the community and reduce congestion on the existing cable car. The project is expected to be operational by January 2027. It will travel a distance of 3.4 km (2 miles) in approximately thirteen minutes. It is expected to have 121 cabins which will carry ten passengers each. When we come back in 2027 we will have to give this one a try.

The current one was closed in 2008 but reopened in 2016, which explains the good condition of the line. The line currently covers 4.8 km (3 miles) with 47 cabins which they say can hold six, but six adults would be tight. It takes about twenty minutes to cover the distance, but the view is spectacular from the car.

We got off at Teleférico Santiago, Estución Cumbre by Turistik, the Hop on Hop off bus people. From the station we walk up to Santuario Cerro San Cristóbal, a small church just below the Virgin de la Inmaculada Conceptión. The statue of the Virgin Mary stands at the top of the hill on top of an 8.3 meter tall base, the inside of which is a small chapel. The statue itself is 14 meters tall. There is also a small church just a few steps down the hill from the statue. It is all quite impressive and the views of Santiago are amazing.

From there we head back down to the Funicular de Santiago. The 100-year-old railway travels up the slop of San Cristóbal Hill. It was completed on April 25, 1925. The project was designed by an Italian Ernesto Bosso. In 1968 the original wooden car roofs were replaced by canvas tops. Pope John Paul II traveled on the funicular during his visit in 1987. The funicular is 485 meters (1,591 feet) long and consists of three stations: “Pío Nono” (at the base of the hill), “Zoo” and “Cumbre”. I couldn’t find the altitude change, but I am guessing that it must be about 300 Meters. Which makes the vertical rise almost 90 degrees. Very impressive. The canvas tops have been replaced with plexiglass to give better views.

There is a really nice café just above the Funicular called Café Tudor. Next time we will stop here and have coffee. After the ride down we caught the Hop On Hop Off us and continued on the tour. Santiago is very impressive. We got off at Stop 9 – the Costanera Center. Susan wanted to go up to the top of the office building, the Sky Costanera.

Sky Costanera is the name of the viewing deck located on the 61st and 62nd floors of the Gran Torre Costanera. The Gran Torre Costanera is the tallest skyscraper in South America. It offered a 360 degree panoramic view of the city of Santiago, and the Andes mountains. The viewing deck is 300 meters above the street.

On our way there we say the Hard Rock Café, so, of course, we had to go in a buy a T-shirt for Miss. Grace. Richard suggested eating here, but we told him the food at most f the Hard Rock Cafés isn’t something you want to experience twice. The Hard Rock is actually just on the edge of the Costanera Mall. Apparently, there is a food court on the fifth floor. So we headed up to the food court.

Now the food court isn’t like an American Mall food court, this one actually has very nice restaurants and maybe thirty of them. There was a Johnny Rocket’s hamburger joint but must of the were fairly nice places with table service. We chose MUU Steakhouse.

Mary and I shared a “Degustación”. It consisted of four different stakes – Entraña, Lomo Vetado, Lomo Liso y Filene. Skirt, ribeye, tenderloin, and filet steaks. About 125 grams each, about one-quarter pound each. This is accompanied by French fries. Each of the steaks were very good. Richard has a shrimp salad, apparently he doesn’t;t each meat. Susan on the other hand went all out for a 500 gram steak. She likes steak and doesn’t get it often.

Afterward we went to the viewing platform and looked out over Santiago. Then we walked the 3.2 km (2 miles) back to the hotel. It was a nice walk but on top of the distance already covered today, was a bit of a finish. The day finished with 14,223 step for a distance of 10.3 km (6+ miles).

We had dinner in the Italian resultant here in the hotel. They offered Clam Chowder. Sounded good, although the description wasn’t sounding like clam chowder – then then this is New England. The description was: Suave crema de papa y almejas Taca, ensalasilla fresca y almejas corcantes. The translation of which was: Soft potato and Taca clam cream, fresh salad and crispy clams. Well, with a description like that it had to be ordered. It proved interesting as a variation of New England clam chowder. The clams were indeed deep-fried in a light batter. There were elements of a salad, especially dill, which they seem to like a lot here. The “soup” part of it tasted a lot like one would expect in New England clam chowder. It was different but good.

My second dish was Spaguetti di Vongole. Spaghetti and clams. Supposedly the Taca clams but they looked suspiciously like quahogs from New England. There were some very small clams which may have been Taca clams. Hey, for all know they were all Taca clams but clams at different stages in life.

After dinner it was off to bed.

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria