We flew into Santiago, Chile from São Paulo. Our first visit was to the La Moneda Palace. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that touring the inside of the palace requires advance booking. We walked around the palace, and from there walked to the Plaza de Armas.
The Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral is situated in the Plaza de Armas. The Cathedral was built in 1800 and it’s quite beautiful both on the outside and inside. Next to it is the Museum of National History of Chile, which provides insights into Chilean culture and history.
Next we visited the Forestal Park, which has lovely walking paths. We didn’t walk too much, since it was quite hot. Next to the park is the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. The sculptures in the museum were great to see, and the building itself is magnificent.
Next morning we started with a visit to Santa Lucia Hill. It’s a lovely place to visit, with a lovely fountain and great views from the summit.
Our next visit was to the San Cristobal hill. It’s a 30 minutes walk from the bottom of Santa Lucia Hill to the funicular station. From the top of San Cristobal Hill one gets a panoramic view of Santiago. From the upper funicular station, we took the cable car to the other side of the hill. The cable car ride has great views of the City.
Our last visit was a day trip to Valparaiso, on the west coast of Chile, on the Pacific Ocean. There are a lot of places with great views of the coast. Also there are lots of great restaurants to have lunch / dinner.
Our last country to visit in South America was Argentina. We visited the Iguazu falls, which lies between Argentina and Brazil. The Iguazu falls consists of a series of falls. Iguazu is considered one of the largest waterfalls system in the world. Our first visit was to the Devil’s throat. One can walk, or take a mini-train ride for about 20 minutes to get to the boardwalk. The boardwalk is very scenic and lasts about 10 minutes.
On return from the Devil’s throat falls, we did a walk on the lower trail, which is an easy walk. Next we took a boat ride right up to the falls. This requires a short ride on a bus, followed by a steep climb down to the river.
On the return from the boat ride, we did a walk on the Brazilian side of Iguazu falls. The views of the falls is awesome from the Brazilian side.
In my opinion, a visit to Iguazu falls is a must. We spent only one day, which felt hurried. Two days will be great to see the falls from both the Argentine and Brazilian sides.
Our last city to visit was Buenos Aires in early January 2025. The city is very green, and the weather was very pleasant. First we visited the 3rd February Park, which has a lot of beautiful gardens, sculptures and walk ways.
The Japanese garden is a short walk from 3rd February Park. Again, its designed beautifully, and totally worth a visit.
After lunch, we visited the Obelisk of Buenos Aires. This monument was built in 1936 to commemorate 400 years since the city was established.
Next, we visited the Teatro Colon, a large and highly decorated theater (short walk from the Obelisk). Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any shows, since no programs were available in January.
On our second morning, we walked to the Presidential Palace, situated on the Plaza de Mayo. On the way, we saw the “women’s bridge”. The tour of the inside of the palace has discontinued since COVID.
A short walk from the palace is the Buenos Aires Cathedral, which was the former seat of Pope Francis. The Cathedral has nice paintings and sculptures. This history of this Cathedral dates back to late 16th century.
Next we visited the National Museum which is across the Cathedral. The museum describes the history dating back to the Spanish colonial era, the war with England etc.
After lunch, we visited the National Historical Museum, a must visit to understand the history of Argentina.
Next day, we visited the National museum of fine arts. This museum has a wide range of paintings and sculptures.
Our last visit of the day was to the Barolo Palace, which is actually an office building. We took the guided tour of the building. The views from the top were very good.
On our last day, we visited the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires. The exhibits were superb, and we really enjoyed the tour of the museum.
Our last place to visit was the Plata River, which separates Argentina and Uruguay.
We fully enjoyed our time in Buenos Aires, soaking in the great weather, the history, culture and magnificent paintings and sculptures.
My Travels - by Sivamani 