Today I climbed two hills, more or less. The first was Santa Lucia which was the location of an old Spanish castle and is now a very pretty park in downtown Santiago. It offers some very nice views of the city and a nice view of an even taller challenge: San Cristobal Hill. San Cristobal is actually a little easier to climb because it includes a funicular railway that will take you most of the way up. It is about 300 meters above the rest of Santiago. At the top of the hill is 14 metre high statue of the Virgin Mary and a nice 270 degree view of the city. The picture in this post shows the view approximately looking south. Over my left shoulder, you will see a palm tree and a little further over is Santa Lucia Hill which should give you an idea of how much higher up San Cristobal is.
The rest of the day was spent on a tour of the downtown area looking at among other things, the Presidential Palace, the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center and the Plaza de Armes. after yet another day of walking, I decided to spend the rest of the evening with my legs up even though there is plenty more I could do, but won’t because I am leaving Chile tomorrow.