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| Panorama of Santiago |
Chile's capital, Santiago, is a pretty city just below the soaring Andes. But, the smog makes it hard to see these beautiful mountains clearly. The streets are clean, though, and the subway works well. While 5 star hotels are limited, outstanding restaurants are not.
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| Santiago's cathedral |
We recommend Osadia, Como Agua Para Chocolate and Aqui Esta Coco if you're looking for a really gourmet meal. Or you can go to Domino, the favorite hot dog chain, with more mayonnaise (special recipe) than you can slurp and lots of variety. The streets have many outdoor cafes and the city has clean water--a very welcome touch! In fact, you can drink the water just about everywhere in Chile, but do ask first in small towns.
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| Presidential Palace |
Santiago's central government square is home to the presidential palace, rebuilt after General Pinochet's troops bombed it into oblivion and perhaps murdered President Allende. Their are charming old buildings in and around the square, including the Stock Exchange and cathedral.
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| historic building in government square |
As in Buenos Aires, we met with U.S. embassy officials in Santiago and talked to a number of other people about the politics and economy of the country. President Bachelet is in her second term, separated from her first by the presidency of President Pinera (presidents in Chile cannot succeed themselves, but can serve non-consecutive terms). So, now Brazil, Argentina and Chile all have women presidents (Dilma Roussef in Brazil having just won reelection).
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| Stock Exchange |
Chile's economy is quite strong. The country is very active in negotiating free trade agreements and is trying to diversify its economy away from copper, which accounts for 50% of its exports. As with most Latin American countries, a few families control the economy. There are many small, family businesses, but not a lot of entrepreneurs as capital for start-ups is nearly non-existent and banks tend to lend only to large, established enterprises. Chile wants to expand entrepreneurship and is seeking ways to make more capital available for new businesses. Besides capital, this is a very risk averse culture, so most people are unwilling to risk failure and the loss of reputation failure brings (unlike the U.S. where failure is seen as a chance to learn important lessons before moving on to the next venture).
I talked to a couple of people who told me the society is very stratified, that if you don't go to the right (elite) elementary and high schools, you won't get into the best universities. If you don't go to the best universities, you don't have the contacts to get the best jobs. And so on. One young person from a working class family told me he couldn't get into a good university and that the public universities don't provide the same quality of education (except the University of Chile) and the relationships he would need to move up economically and socially.
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| vineyard at Santa Rita winery |
One day, we visited the Santa Rita Winery, about an hour out of Santiago, and Chile's third largest wine maker. Chile, of course, is a large provider of excellent wines and very good prices. So, we enjoyed their wines very much. Santa Rita offers an interesting tour of one of their wineries and a good restaurant set amidst beautiful gardens. A rebuilt church used by the original owners is adjacent to the old estate residence, now a hotel and pretty good restaurant, in need of some renovation, but charming. Black-necked swans swim lazily in the large pond in the garden. The Claro family owns the winery now and displays their remarkable collection of pre-Columbian artifacts in the Museo Andino on the estate property. Well worth a visit.
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| Santa Rita's black-necked swans |
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| Santa Rita church |
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