Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción

Ahhh...Saturday in the Summer in Chile...
After a less than stellar Friday (maybe we'll explain that later) we headed out today to the Cerro San Cristóbal to see the iconic 14m high statue of the Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción. This is reported as one of the things you have to do in Santiago, and now we know why.

We started off with a short metro ride, crossed a bridge over the Río Mapocho (which if you remember is more of a creek during the summer) and headed down through Bellavista to the bottom of the Cerro San Cristóbal. After a short wait in the ticket line we headed up the hill in the funicular (a cable car) towards the top.

The funicular...a quick ride to the top.

I, much to Justin's dismay, insisted that we buy tickets to the zoo which is halfway up the hill. The Jardín Zoológico was descrbed by our guidebooks as an "aging bunch of neglected animals." I know you wonder why I would even want to see this...and it's because the guidebooks also said this was likely our only chance to see the "elusive pudú deer." I had no idea what a pudú was...but I had to see it.

Is that the pudu deer? Nope...but he does have antlers in the velvet stage, which is cool.

Tigre Blanco

This little fella (the monkey to the left) was easily the most entertaining creature at the zoo
The guidebooks were right and we saw several "dull eyed" creatures including a tigre blanco, a couple of lions, some deer, and an ostrich. In the pen with the ostrich were these interesting looking creatures. Neither of us knew what they were and I described them as a cross between a rabbit, a dog, and a deer. Turns out we were looking at the "elusive pudú.  I figured this out only after coming home and googling pudu. If you're interested on learning more about the pudú... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pud%C3%BA

The elusive Pudu deer with their friend the ostrich.

After our brief trek through the wild and crazy zoo, we hopped back on the funicular to the top of the hill. The view from the top was amazing. We had noticed even from the ground that you could really see the snow capped tops of the mountain today. It is surreal how beautiful and grand the mountains are. It seems that mountains encircle the whole city. Gorgeous!

If you look close, you can see the snow capped peaks.

 We had another short trek by foot (short, but steep) to the very top where the Virgin stands. The view only got better the further we went. We sat on the steps around the statue for a little while soaking in the gloriously warm sun.

It's amazing how nice it felt, even being that high in direct sunlight because of the nice breeze that was blowing. We were both able to get a little vitamin D along with some pink tint to our skins. I had to help Justin even out his farmer's tan.
On the short trek down we stopped at the small but beautiful chapel that I missed on the way up. We signed our names in the visitors book, bought a few souvenirs at the nearby stand, and continued down to the plaza where the funicular let us off. We decided that now was the time be brave, man up and taste the "refreshing national drink" known also as the mote con huesillo. The drink is very popular here, sold on almost every corner, and beloved by Chileans everywhere. It is a sweet nectar-like beverage made with dried peaches (huesillo) cooked in sugar, water, and cinnamon then cooled and mixed with fresh cooked husked wheat (mote). It was good, but very sweet...we shared one but neither of us was excited about finishing the entire drink (3 peaches and all). I think it's an acquired taste:).

We headed back down on the funicular to the bottom of the hill and walked a few blocks to one of the homes of poet and Nobel prize winner Pablo Neruda, La Chascona. I had heard of Neruda and read his poetry through a friend in college so I was excited about seeing his home.

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving." XVII, Pablo Neruda

At this point we had worked up an appetite so we stopped again at the restaurant where we had the traditional Chilean fare previously. Justin was determined to try the pastel de choclo, and he was finally able to. It was served in a hot bowl and was a dish of sweet corn mashed with beef, onions, and olives.
I had fish and tasted another local beer, Austral, which was great. We were satisfied with our lunch and left for home. Now I've got to go as it's time to get ready for the symphony.
Adios!