Barrio Brasil is one of the most popular destinations for backpackers searching for really cheap accommodation. Apparently this causes some amazement and concern amongst local Santiguenos. The reason for this is that BBis considered to be rough and a bit dodgy at night. Nevertheless it has a wide selection of bars as welll as reasonably cheap food - but which came first?- It is also very convenient for the various bus stations and indeed the railway station.
Bearing in mind its reputation, when we went there (just to see) I, of course, hung on to Anne and...let her protect me!!!!! Some of it was just like any other relatively working class areas that had been allowed to run down by the powers that be. However therewere areas that had been receiving some attention and were undergoing some work. There was one little square that was really nice (in Barrio Concha y Toro) but at the time we visited it was about to be visited by some person who carried some weight - one way or another. Just beyond the square the streets had been closed to traffic and there wre a variety of 'heavies' stationed at the blockades.
Nevertheless, pedestrians were still coming and going. Then we realised that the 'heavies' were all shaven and ugly and without any kind of uniform (police or security) and so we instantly assumed it was someone connected with the mafia or something. Later we saw a police motorcycle outrider but that didn't necessarily change our minds! Anyway, we walked further around took a couple of piccies and then ended up back towards the square. At the road block, we made as if to go through and one of the guards asked us if we were press!! We laughed , told him no and walked on. A little further on we came across a press pack all ready and waiting. The heavies were beginning to get a little agitated and were constantly talking to their lapels. However, lack of curiosity got the better of us. We went out the same we had recently arrived and approached the same guard. Having a little joke and thrusting my camera forward I said "Press!" but rather than laugh he just stood aside and waved us through respectfully. he didn't seem to have recognised us from 5 minutes previous.
We walked on and there didn't seem to be much of note until we got to plaza Brasil. here there was a rather elegant church that was difficult to photograph as all the buildings were very tightly packed. the square wasa little run down but not bad. It was along one side of the square that we found our gem.
The nearest either of us come to looking up to anybody of 'celebrity' is Victor Jarra. A singer of the New Chilean Song movement and later a minister of culture in Allende's government, he had touched us through our listening to 'Manifiesto', a compilation of his songs that seemed to track the euphoria of earlier days through to the gloom and sense of impending doom of his later songs. After listening to these songs and talking with Chris and Enrique in Norwich, we read Chris's copy of Joan Jarra's biography of Victor (Unfinished Song ). The end, even though we both were familiar with his story, was devastating and both of us were upset for many weeks after reading it. It is a very powerful book.
The 'gem' was the Galpon Victor Jara, a cultural and political center dedicated to the memory of Victor. They have meetings, lectures, workshops and music performances at the centre. It can't be missed if you visit Plaza Brasil, there is a mural along the wall that includes victor's image. We hovered outside taking picturesuntil someone inside saw us and invited us in and showed us to the room full of memorabilia and press cuttings about Victor as well as a case containing his guitar. We were in there for about an hour reading with our very limited Spanish. it wascertainly a great experience for us both.
Just over the road from La Moneda and near the (still occupied) Universidad de Chile is a little area of just two streets called London & Paris. these streets contain a number of European style houses and are cobbled (and very quiet!). London is also home to a major centre of torture during Pinochet's time ( You may remember that Thatcher called Pinochet a friend of the UK and a friend of freedom and democracy - people might want to consider that idea in the current political climate and regime in the UK!) the building is clearly marked outside for what it was and the names of a number of victims who suffered inside have their names
etched into parts of the street.
We finished off that day by waking along to santa Lucia, where there is a Feria Artesanal. We visited this litlle craft market on 3 or 4 different occasions. Much on show was, of course, rather mass-produced rather than 'crafted'. Nevertheless, it was the typical kind of tourist stuff that we all love to browse through. Lots of t-shirts with various designs, a multitude of textiles, floor lamps.....but alas, for us, on a 3 month trip, space and weight in our luggagewas at a premium and so we left (almost!) empty handed. They also made fantastic fruta con leche - we usually had Mango.
Our penultimate day was spent at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, a fairly new museum set up within the last year. Too new to be included in the current editions of the various guidebooks, thay were still stocking the (not yet opened) gift shop when we arrived. It is accessible directly from the Quinta Normal metro station (as is the History Museum). The ground floor contains displays of Human rights movements around the world as well as details of where there are 'Truth and Reconciliation' processes taking place. The first and second floors (2nd and 3rd to many other people) contain articles, displays of artefacts and various audio-visual presentations of the overthrow of Allende and the years of the Pinochet military dictatorship. About 90% of the displays are in Spanish yet we were in there for more than 4 hours. Our reading of 'museum Spanish' is miles ahead of our ability to speak the language but after about 3 hours we did eventually give in and just look. It was also all about events that had happened well within our lifetimes and soe of which we had been aware of at the time. This factor must have added some relevance to our visit. To anyone visiting Santiago, it is a must-see. Brilliant and moving. For both of us the most moving was listening to Allende's final speech as they were bombing La Moneda. This speech was played over a video of events of the time and contained English subtitles.
Our final day in Santiago was spent walking, eating, drinking and consuming massive icecreams in Providencia. ....... And packing!
We both really enjoyed being in santiago and both earmarked it as a place we could possibly think of as a future placeto work/live (being Tesol teachers). The city has a lot going on, there is a really effective public transport system (very important to people who don't drive!!!!). Loads of cultural interest and just a very interesting place to be in.
Bearing in mind its reputation, when we went there (just to see) I, of course, hung on to Anne and...let her protect me!!!!! Some of it was just like any other relatively working class areas that had been allowed to run down by the powers that be. However therewere areas that had been receiving some attention and were undergoing some work. There was one little square that was really nice (in Barrio Concha y Toro) but at the time we visited it was about to be visited by some person who carried some weight - one way or another. Just beyond the square the streets had been closed to traffic and there wre a variety of 'heavies' stationed at the blockades.
Nevertheless, pedestrians were still coming and going. Then we realised that the 'heavies' were all shaven and ugly and without any kind of uniform (police or security) and so we instantly assumed it was someone connected with the mafia or something. Later we saw a police motorcycle outrider but that didn't necessarily change our minds! Anyway, we walked further around took a couple of piccies and then ended up back towards the square. At the road block, we made as if to go through and one of the guards asked us if we were press!! We laughed , told him no and walked on. A little further on we came across a press pack all ready and waiting. The heavies were beginning to get a little agitated and were constantly talking to their lapels. However, lack of curiosity got the better of us. We went out the same we had recently arrived and approached the same guard. Having a little joke and thrusting my camera forward I said "Press!" but rather than laugh he just stood aside and waved us through respectfully. he didn't seem to have recognised us from 5 minutes previous.
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We walked on and there didn't seem to be much of note until we got to plaza Brasil. here there was a rather elegant church that was difficult to photograph as all the buildings were very tightly packed. the square wasa little run down but not bad. It was along one side of the square that we found our gem.
The nearest either of us come to looking up to anybody of 'celebrity' is Victor Jarra. A singer of the New Chilean Song movement and later a minister of culture in Allende's government, he had touched us through our listening to 'Manifiesto', a compilation of his songs that seemed to track the euphoria of earlier days through to the gloom and sense of impending doom of his later songs. After listening to these songs and talking with Chris and Enrique in Norwich, we read Chris's copy of Joan Jarra's biography of Victor (Unfinished Song ). The end, even though we both were familiar with his story, was devastating and both of us were upset for many weeks after reading it. It is a very powerful book.
The 'gem' was the Galpon Victor Jara, a cultural and political center dedicated to the memory of Victor. They have meetings, lectures, workshops and music performances at the centre. It can't be missed if you visit Plaza Brasil, there is a mural along the wall that includes victor's image. We hovered outside taking picturesuntil someone inside saw us and invited us in and showed us to the room full of memorabilia and press cuttings about Victor as well as a case containing his guitar. We were in there for about an hour reading with our very limited Spanish. it wascertainly a great experience for us both.
Just over the road from La Moneda and near the (still occupied) Universidad de Chile is a little area of just two streets called London & Paris. these streets contain a number of European style houses and are cobbled (and very quiet!). London is also home to a major centre of torture during Pinochet's time ( You may remember that Thatcher called Pinochet a friend of the UK and a friend of freedom and democracy - people might want to consider that idea in the current political climate and regime in the UK!) the building is clearly marked outside for what it was and the names of a number of victims who suffered inside have their names
etched into parts of the street.
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We finished off that day by waking along to santa Lucia, where there is a Feria Artesanal. We visited this litlle craft market on 3 or 4 different occasions. Much on show was, of course, rather mass-produced rather than 'crafted'. Nevertheless, it was the typical kind of tourist stuff that we all love to browse through. Lots of t-shirts with various designs, a multitude of textiles, floor lamps.....but alas, for us, on a 3 month trip, space and weight in our luggagewas at a premium and so we left (almost!) empty handed. They also made fantastic fruta con leche - we usually had Mango.
Our penultimate day was spent at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, a fairly new museum set up within the last year. Too new to be included in the current editions of the various guidebooks, thay were still stocking the (not yet opened) gift shop when we arrived. It is accessible directly from the Quinta Normal metro station (as is the History Museum). The ground floor contains displays of Human rights movements around the world as well as details of where there are 'Truth and Reconciliation' processes taking place. The first and second floors (2nd and 3rd to many other people) contain articles, displays of artefacts and various audio-visual presentations of the overthrow of Allende and the years of the Pinochet military dictatorship. About 90% of the displays are in Spanish yet we were in there for more than 4 hours. Our reading of 'museum Spanish' is miles ahead of our ability to speak the language but after about 3 hours we did eventually give in and just look. It was also all about events that had happened well within our lifetimes and soe of which we had been aware of at the time. This factor must have added some relevance to our visit. To anyone visiting Santiago, it is a must-see. Brilliant and moving. For both of us the most moving was listening to Allende's final speech as they were bombing La Moneda. This speech was played over a video of events of the time and contained English subtitles.
Our final day in Santiago was spent walking, eating, drinking and consuming massive icecreams in Providencia. ....... And packing!
We both really enjoyed being in santiago and both earmarked it as a place we could possibly think of as a future placeto work/live (being Tesol teachers). The city has a lot going on, there is a really effective public transport system (very important to people who don't drive!!!!). Loads of cultural interest and just a very interesting place to be in.
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