La Moneda - Santiago

On Tuesday Feb 13th, Sita and I went to downtown Santiago to see the changing of the guards at Palacio de La Moneda, but we didn’t end up seeing this because it turns out this ceremony is only done every other day. We didn’t find this out until we got there so we ended up visiting La Moneda anyway and doing a few more things in Santiago. Palacio de La Moneda literally translates as “Palace of the Coin” or “Coin Palace” it was used as a mint during colonial times, but is now the seat of the president of Chile. It was used as the presidential residence from 1845 until around 1952, but it is now just the office of the president. It’s like the Chilean White House. Many of you will recognize it if you have ever seen historical pictures of the September 11th 1973 coup.

Sita in front of La Moneda, in the Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square).
Hari in front of La Moneda, in the Plaza de la Constitución.
A statue of Diego Portales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Portales I took this picture because it reminded me of the town Portales in New Mexico which is the most prominent Portales when you do a search on "Portales" on Google. I decided to see what this guy was known for and I read the article at wikipedia and he doesn't seem that worthy of a statue, his death seemed more important than his life.
A view of the city from the Consitution Square.
Me and Allende. He said "Tengo fe in Chile y su destino" which means "I have faith in Chile and its destiny." Then I was like "Me too, but I bet you didn't realize how long it would take Chile to break the shackles of Pinochet." Then he said "Yeah it's lamentable." Then I said "It's funny how in the face of the unavoidable evidence of criminality of Pinochet, his supporters seek to criticise you to change the subject." Then he said "Yeah it seems like a common strategy of the times." I responded to that saying "It seems so, and that is even more lamentable." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Allende
These guards stand like this all day, but they are apparently allowed to move as I saw them slightly but noticeably move several times.
Me inside the Palace in the first courtyard in front of the door to the second.
Watch out! How did Sita get this canon into the Chilean White House? I hope another coup is not afoot.
Me in front of the fountain in the second courtyard.
El Patio de los Naranjos. The Orange Tree Patio

I thought that it was funny that inside a secured and heavily-trafficked environment there exists this little nest undisturbed.
Sita in front of the fountain.
El Palcio de La Moneda from the Plaza de la Ciudadanía (Citizenry Square).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Moneda
A view of the city from this plaza.
After the visit to the palace we went around Santiago doing different things. Some picture I took just because I found them interesting as is the case below.
Sita asking her dad for directions to "El Rapido" a restaurant/fast food joint where they serve you your order within seconds of you ordering it.
I found this corner interesting because it reminded me of a red light district. The buildigns were old concrete buildings that had been dirtied by smog, add to that graffiti and neon lights and it made for a shady looking place. It's not though as evidenced by the street cleaner and the man in the suit.
Sita in the Plaza de Armas. The following 5 pictures were taken from the Plaza de Armas (Arms Square).
I thought this church and the high rise made a stark contrast.
The central Chilean post office.

There were several copper engravings embeded in the pavement in the Plaza. I found this one interesting as it depected a city planning diagram from th 1700s.
If something drips on you on a cloud free day in Santiago, don't be afraid to look up, it's just water, from a cooler.
Another city view.
Tribunales de Justicia. I believe this is like the Chilean Supreme Court.
An interesting tunnel between skyscrapers.
The resemblance to here to Times Square is not a coincidence the name of the adjacent street is Nueva York.
This is a view in the direction of Peñalolen, the neighborhood in which Sita's parents dwell. This pic was taken from the closest metro station to the house. There's a big mountain in the backgroudn which can't be seen because smog.
These are what taxis look like, for the most part, in Santiago, although anything with an orange license plate is a taxi and sometimes they can be inconspicuous looking like any other car on the road but with an orange license plate.
Now this is probably going to be an odd concept to some, but there are some middle lanes in Santiago that are reversible. That is during some times, they go in one direction and other times in the other direction. You have to look if the light facing you is green or red to know whether you can use this lane. In this case "Doble" mean that two lanes are going in the same direction as you are currently going rather than just one. This system is supposed to relieve rush hour traffic, but many tourists complain as well as some locals, when they arrive on one of these streets in an unfamiliar area and end up going the wrong direction.
Some streets are just one way and that direction changes at a different time of day, except on weekends when it is the same direction the whole weekend. I find these streets to be particularly dangerous as there are no lights just signs in Spanish with large amounts of text describing the times and the days that the streets are in one direction or the other. To me it seems too dangerous to be a good idea, since drivers and pedestrians are sometimes confused. Also I have to wonder if the same amount of money that was required to erect the signs, buy the signs and operate the electric signs was used to differently if it would be enough to simply widen the road and add another lane.