Santiago

 Travel to Santiago was by train. The station had been damaged in the earthquake in Curico, but trains were running. 

 Dogs had decided to take up residence in front of a very old carriage. 

 Luckily our carriage was not of the same era!

It was a shock coming into the big city again, but we had booked a very small apartment in the centre, it looks bigger than it was! But very comfortable and we could cook meals!

It was very hot, we went around looking at the sights.

The Plaza des Armas

 Where the children were trying to keep cool in the fountain.

The plaza was full of the usual statues and palms 

A plaque in the ground illustrated the old city and its walls.

The Bavarian Gothic Cathedral, 

was huge and dark inside.

 A bit of a Saint's bone beautifully displayed.

 A side chapel with a remarkable solid silver altar.

St Christopher was there to help us on our way.

 The city Museum is  housed in an ancient palace but was closed for renovation!.

And, as in all cities the needy were rummaging through the garbage bins.

We were rather shocked that many of the old buildings have been allowed to fall into disrepair. They are then pulled down and skyscrapers appear in their place. This old building is a a private house belonging at one time to an Italian Prince. Now empty and rotting away we are sure another skyscraper will appear.

However this building - the school for diplomats is beautiful.

Outside was an old lamp.

We were permitted inside for a glimpse.

The Parliament building looked as though it had been shipped from the UK!

The old wrought iron market has been turned into a food hall, much more upmarket than the one in Temuco.

The cat was very content with the scraps received.

Around the edges of the eating area were stalls of vegetables,

 And herb sellers.

Our second day we went out to St Dominica  to see the craft market - still searching for something special to buy.

The market was set in the gardens of the old monastery.

There were rabbits and guinea pigs for sale.

And lots of small shops with saome interesting things in them.

But we thought this statue was a little large to carry home.

We found nothing to buy so went to  a huge shopping mall to see how the wealthy shop.
Tony really fancied these shoes.

Our last wander around was to see they were refurbishing the old opera house - thanks goodness they didn´t pull it down and build a modern one.

Opposite was the Flying officers club!

Appropriate as we were to catch an early morning flight to Calama in the Atacama Desert.