DAY 1: DEC 11 SATURDAY SANTIAGO PLAZA DE ARMAS

Walked a short distance in the pretty neighborhood and bought our groceries from a convenience store. The place is not called BELLAVISTA for nothing!

Had some food and started off...

MOBILITY PASS

As explained in the intro, my mobility pass had been activated, son's MeVacuno page still showed no valid application. Both our COVID test results were also not accessible on the BIONET site. They did not pick up the phone, their testcenters were closed from 1 pm saturday for the weekend. We were scheduled to take LATAM flight to Punta Arenas on Monday. We were worried. After wasting a lot of time , we decided to drop it

WASTED SOME MORE TIME

Our camera battry , phone etc stopped charging as the adapter we use for international plugs did not seem to work. We wasted a lot of time before figuring out the electricity has tripped and we just had to put the breaker back on!

We set out at last

PLAZA DE ARMAS , SANTIAGO

Bought a BIP card at the Salvador metro station, 800 m walk from our apartment.

This is the metro map... stations we used are marked in red. Our station is on the red line, we transferred at Baquedana and got on the green line, got down at Plaza de Armas

PLAZA DE ARMAS is central plaza and features famous monuments, the Governor's palace and is the point from which all distances to other parts of Chile are measured.

Literally a “square of weapons,” the concept behind this city center dates back hundreds of years, to when Spanish conquistadors were establishing and laying out the grid for cities in the Americas. A single city block would often be intentionally left empty and surrounded by important government offices, cathedrals, and the like. In the event of an attack, the city’s population could easily gather there to be armed and protected.

Santiago’s Plaza de Armas has remained the heart of the city since it was founded alongside Santiago itself in 1541. The beautiful structures surrounding it are newer, largely completed in the nineteenth century. Today, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago and the Central Post Office remain among the most eye-catching facades.