02/14/2024 Santiago, Chile

Today was Valentine's Day. We had spent it a year earlier at the Adlon in Berlin. Our prize for the Lions Club Christmas calendar. It made us realize how quickly time flies and we should enjoy such trips. Who knows how long such escapes from everyday life will still be possible for us?

Today's destination should be the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. The previous year the visit didn't work out because the information in the travel guide and reality didn't match. The library was closed on Saturdays. On the way to the metro we noticed the many street vendors offering all kinds of Valentine's Day kitsch. It wasn't for us!

When we tried to get through the metro gates, we discovered that the BIP card's credit had been used up. Karin solved the problem by reloading 5000 Ch$, without any language difficulties! Then we took a very crowded subway to our destination. We were the only passengers who had a protective mask on. In general, it is very rare to see people wearing masks in the streets and shopping arcades! We can't judge what the corona situation is currently like in Chile, but in such a big city we're guessing Berlin conditions! We hope we get through without getting infected!

The library, one of the oldest and largest in South America, is an impressive building. Its high ceilings and domes with stained glass and checkerboard floors were quite something! The reading room, with its antique chairs and tables, is also impressive. Plus the supervisory positions on each side, you don't see something like that often! We roamed all the floors, but the cafeteria listed in the guidebook was no longer there.

Afterwards we looked around the area for vegetables for our dinner and ended up in an interesting alley. There were almost only small shops here with spare parts for all kinds of household appliances. Whether vacuum cleaner, toaster, washing machine or microwave, you could try everything to save the defective devices. This prevents the throwaway mentality a little! But it also shows that people don't have that much money available. And if you think about the new laws to avoid electronic waste that are now to come into force in Europe, then Chile is really up to date! We want to introduce a repair guarantee and, at the same time, an obligation to exchange the device if the device can no longer be repaired. I know from my own experience how difficult it is to get replacement parts, which often only cost a small amount and then get an expensive purchase up and running again! There were also a lot of eyeglass shops in the same street, actually one next to the other! I felt a little reminded of the structure of a medieval city. There were also entire districts that were only enlivened by one guild (Bäckergasse, Schmiedestrasse, Lederhosen, etc.)!

Karin then signaled that we had better go home. The trip was enough for us and on the way home we bought 10 delicious prickly pears for €1! After a successful dinner, we sat on the balcony again with Franziska, the city lit up at our feet!