Our overnight flight from Atlanta touched down in Santiago at 7:00 a.m., and by 8:30 we'd arrived by taxi at the Hyatt Centric Las Condes, in the city's financial district. Our room wasn't ready that early, but we were able to relax on their patio and enjoy some coffee before leaving our bags at the front desk and setting out on foot.
Tom relaxes on the Hyatt patio
At 300 meters (980 feet) high, Gran Torre Costanera is the tallest building in South America, and the Sky Costanera observation platform occupies its two highest floors. For us, it was a must-do. To gain access, you have to enter through the Costanera Center, South America's largest shopping mall – 3 million square feet.
Gran Torre Costanera
Jana at the top of the tallest building in South America
Santiago lies in a bowl-shaped depression surrounded by mountains. Unfortunately, the bowl holds in smoke from industry and wildfires, along with the dry summer dust, which obviously obscures the view. The air is much clearer in the winter, when the sight of the snow-covered Andes is surely spectacular, but it was still a great vantage from which to observe the city sprawl and closer foothills.
Looking out on Santiago
Cerro San Cristobal
Santiago and the Andes Mountains
Gran Torre Costanera superstructure
It was a scorching 95 degrees, and we were tired from our walk and the overnight flight, so we returned to the Hyatt at 1:00 and were pleased to find our room was ready two hours early. Yay! At that point, I was afraid we might be done for the day, but after a couple of hours of air conditioned recovery, we headed back out.
Pedestrian bridge outside the mall
Cerro San Cristobal is a prominent hill in northern Santiago. Its elevation is 880 meters, rising about 300 meters over the rest of the city – the same height as Sky Costanera. We Ubered to the hill's base and took a teleferico up. Then we enjoyed walking around up top before riding a long funicular down the opposite side.
View from the teleferico
Santiago sprawl
Crowning the hill is a statue of the Virgin Mary with a small shrine in its base. A winding path below leads past a church and several other statues and stations of a most Catholic nature.
Virgin of the Immaculate Conception
Twelfth Station of the Cross
Big-head Jesus behind a bush
The lower funicular station is in Barrio Bellavista, a funky, artsy neighborhood with lots of little bars and restaurants. We had pizza and craft beer in a little hole-in-the-wall called Bar La Nona. South America is full of German settlers, and we never had a bad beer the entire trip.
On board the funicular
After dinner, we rode the metro back to Las Condes and then spent a ridiculous amount of time and energy trying to figure out where to buy some take-out beer. Never give up! We enjoyed our hard-earned beer beside the Hyatt's rooftop pool.
Full moon from the roof of the Hyatt
Santiago after dark