At 07.14 in the morning as we were getting ready to leave Santiago, Chile experienced in world terms a large earthquake, some 6.2 on the Richter Scale. The epicentre was at Punitaqui some 400 kms to the north of Santiago. We were on the 19thfloor of a 25 floor apartment block and the building noticeably swayed for about a minute. While this was exciting for us, for Chileans, this a normal part of life and as the saying goes, they would not get out of bed for a 6.2 earthquake. No damage was reported, which is a tribute to the high standards that Chile maintains in its building and other regulations.
On the Sunday, Santiago had its marathon, and the whole of the busy Avenida O’Higgins and other streets were closed off to traffic. Unlike marathons back home, there were not many runners in fancy dress, but the atmosphere was great and very inclusive with the crowds cheering on and supporting all the runners.
After the weekend Santiago returned to work, the city is a hive of economic activity, with many glass tower blocks full of workers supporting Chile’s economy. Santiago is also home to five top universities and is one of Latin America’s top places to study. Our apartment in Santa Lucia was located right between two of them Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica. Interestingly both of which also supply two of Chile’s top football teams in the Chilean Primera División.
On the drive up to Santiago through Chile’s Central Belt, fields full of agricultural produce, especially vines and fresh fruit, surrounded the main highway. Equally impressive was the amount of agribusinesses supporting the farmers, which also helps ensure that much of the value added wealth is also retained in Chile.
We briefly stopped at the Balduzzi Vineyard that produced the full variety of traditional Chilean wines in a picturesque setting. Much of their wine is exported to the US and Asia, very little is currently exported to Europe.
Overall Santiago and the surrounding region is very impressive and is a bit of a hidden gem that modestly lets its bigger and more famous Latin American cities steal the limelight, but is now increasingly becoming a destination in its own right.
Date: 05/04/2018 to 10/04/2018