Santiago day 1

 I must have been tired. I didn't get up until 8. That worked out well because breakfast wasn't served until 9.

I don't have any plan for the day. I guess I better make one. Lol.

I think I'll start my day with a visit to the Cementario General (the General Cemetary) from there I plan to visit the Central Market.

I will try taking the city buses here in Santiago.

On Google Maps it gives suggestions for various bus routes. I selected the most direct without any changes. The bus stop was only about a block from the hostel.

I was at one bus stop, the notations matched what Google told me. I got a little advice from others waiting for the bus.

When I boarded, I held out a handful of coins, but they just waved me through. Maybe seniors ride for free. On the bus, I could follow our progress on Google Maps, so I knew when to get off.

The General Cemetery is an open-air museum, with incalculable heritage and cultural value, built 202 years ago, founded by Bernardo O'Higgins on December 9, 1821. Walking through its streets is to know the history of Chile, the men and prominent men who marked it. It is important to consider its architectural wealth that reflects the development of a necropolis inserted in the metropolis. Today it is one of the largest and most beautiful cemeteries in Latin America. It has 86 hectares, which house the tombs of more than two million deceased, among them the builders of our Nation.

The cemetary is still accepting deceased to this day.

As you read above the cemetary is huge. I walked around for 2 hours and only saw a fraction of it.

I took alot of pictures. There seems to be a few distinct designs for what I will call mausoleums.   

• Family, above ground mausoleums. These are built above ground and house caskets either length wise or sideways along the sides and posible back walls. The smallest would hold 6 or 8 caskets, the larger 12 or even more.
• 
  Family under ground mausoleums. For the whole plot would be excavated. The size depending on you much space the family owned. These sometimes were only at ground level with a removable top to lower the casket into the mausoleum and then slid into a niche.
• The second type of family underground, very similar, except it would have a monument of some style above. The caskets are slide into a small door at the front. A winch system is inside the mausoleum to lower the casket to it's niche.
• Another is the larger public mausoleums that could house hundred of caskets. I came across one such structure and it had a side structure with smaller niches for children. The parents would be buried in the larger structure with their deceased young children nearby.

I came to one area were workers were working to build new underground mausoleums. A person, I think it was his company building these structures, encouraged me to take a picture of the pit.  These pits are deep and will accomodate 5 caskets stacked on top off each other.

There was another worker engraving a headstone.

After leaving the cemetary, I again had to figure out how to get a bus to go to the Central Market. It took a bit of walking, but I finally figured it out. I sat there for a few minutes before seeing a sign saying this location was not longer being serviced. It did refer to a nearby bus stop.

A 5 or 10 minute walk to the current bus stop and a bit of a wait, close to 20 minutes, but the bus did finally arrive. I again boarded the bus and walked right in, this time not offering to pay. No one challenged me. Great.

Again following along on Google Maps, I knew when to get off for the Central Market.

The part of the market I entered was all fresh fish stalled intersperced with seafood restaurants. Some of the restaurants were very basic with just a few tables, others appeared more upscale. All specializing in seafood and civiche.

I chose one of the smaller places and ordered civiche. Very different from civiche as I knew it. It was a large bowl mostly fish, with no visible vegetable or tomato to add color. It was more than I prefered to eat, but I did finish it. I am used to civiche as an appetizer not as a main course.  It was good, but I prefer the US and Mexican civeche.

From the market, I just stolled the streets, mostly headed in the direction back to my hostel. I bought a few items on the way back. Essentials like water and even more important more bath soap.

Once back at the hostel. Guess what? Siesta time.

It is evening now, time to write and plan for tomorrow. I have booked a free walking tour for tomorrow morning with an English speaking guide. I looks like it will not be repeating any of the places I visited today. 

I don't typically go out at night, but I did see a pastry shop with a line off people waiting to be served when I came back to the hostel in the afternoon. I wanted to get snack, so I ventured out.

The pastry shop, that also sells slices of freshly made pizza still had the line outside. 

Not only that but there were of people out milling around. There were at least a half  a dozen sidewalk cafés, all very busy. About a half a block down at the subway entrance there were people with their wares for sales laid out on the sidewalk.

There was another guy squeezing pomegranates and selling the freshly squeezed juice. I will try that  before I leave this area.

I also found a rental bike station less than a block from my hostel. Sweet!

I went back to the pastry shop and got a chicken and cheese empanada and a sweet pastry  to take back to hostel for my evening snack.