John traveled to Chile at the end of October. It was mostly a work trip but he got to tack on an extra day at the front to play tourist a bit.
He spent a good part of a weekend in Santiago, the capital city, enjoying the Chilean spring. After arriving on Saturday morning and a cab to his hotel to drop bags, John set out on walking tour of the city.
After catching the tail end of the changing of the guards at the federal building, the first adventure was in the Municipal Park – a great elevated pastoral respite with awesome 360 degree views.
Next came an exploration of the shopping district and it’s vendors. Halloween costumes were in big demand!
Though the name confused some, the Hotel Plaza de San Francisco, so named from its proximity to the Iglesia San Francisco below, provided comfortable lodging and a fine Saturday night seafood dinner.
More walking on Sunday led to the discovery of the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral (GAM) and its striking architecture. The stained glass-like skylights and the metal superstructure were particularly impressive.
A bit further down the road, John discovered the Funicular San Cristobal and it’s $4 round-trip ride to the summit of Cerro San Cristobal in the Parque Metropolitano. The summit was impressive with its chapel, amphitheater overlooking the city, and statue of the virgin Mary.
John also observed the effect of “El exceso de información” or “Too much information.” Reminded him of Midnight!
A cool beer at Pio Nono’s “Blue Bar” was called for…
Then it was a two-hour flight north to Antofagasta and a drive to the mining community of Mejillones where he’d spend the week working on his company’s new storage installation there. Though on the coast, the landscape was mostly dirt and electrical wires – the community exists to support the mining operations off in the mountains with port operations, electricity generation, etc.
The rest of the week would be spent on the Angamos Power Plant construction site where’s John’s company, A123, is installing a 20MW grid stabilization battery system. Pretty exciting to be there when the first of ten battery containers arrived!
It was a great trip! There are many more photos here for the strong of heart!
