20-01-20: Farewell

To anticipate it: We are already back in Berlin and need to process the impressions of our trip first. The blog, which also serves as a diary for us, will help us with this.

20-01-20: Our flight doesn't leave until 22:00, so we still have a whole day to do something in Santiago. We decide to visit important places again that we saw on the first days of our arrival or those we could not see. So we wander through the city and reach the market halls, the pedestrian zone and the Plaza de Armas. We notice that many graffiti against the government have now been painted over. This gives the impression that at least in parts of the city, normalcy has returned. However, this does not apply to the area around Plaza Italia. We also pass by the first hotel where we checked in 6 weeks ago. I realize that my view of the city has completely changed after all the experiences and impressions of the past few weeks. At the beginning, I was shocked by the partly morbid condition and the boarded-up buildings, but now I don't perceive it negatively at all. On the contrary, my eyes are more focused on the beautiful things, such as the historic buildings. In particular, we can visit the San Francisco Church, which was closed six weeks ago with a large iron gate to protect it. It is one of the oldest buildings from the colonial period in Chile and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

The streets are now also filled with people, unlike our first days here. I think this is because the situation has really calmed down and people feel safer. But it is probably also due to the holiday season in Chile. Many people are now on vacation and spend their free time shopping. There are also more foreign tourists again, which can easily be recognized by the language. There are many Americans on the road, probably a cruise ship is currently in Valparaíso.

We continue to stroll and reach the Bellavista district again. The streets here are still empty, because life in Bellavista only begins in the evening. So you notice the colorful facades even more than usual, and I decide to use the remaining time wisely and take pictures of these facades.

Behind most entrances you will find bars and restaurants. But even normal residential buildings are decorated with these sometimes artistic paintings.

Unlike Valparaíso, these paintings on the walls are not socially critical, but simply cheerful or ...

... just brightly colored.

We also notice the many mosaics on the sidewalks, which of course I also photograph.

Now it's time to pick up our luggage from our Airbnb accommodation. The Uber taxi is already pre-booked and arrives on time. A nice car with the friendly driver Carlos takes us to the airport. A great trip is coming to an end and saying goodbye to Chile is very difficult for us. We are sure that we will come back soon.

I will now let a few more days pass and then try to summarize all the impressions of the trip in a final report.