Santiago and Valparaiso

On Friday, we visited the Museo de la Memoria in Santiago. It is a modern museum with an interesting exhibition about Pinochet's rise to power, the atrocities of his dictatorship, the ousting and investigation, and the memory of the victims. Unfortunately, many of the information was only available in Spanish. The adjacent park gave us the opportunity to experience Chilean life in the summer. It wasn't planned, but in the end, we spent almost four hours there, observing the hustle and bustle. It was an exciting glimpse into the real life of the city dwellers. Chileans take their young children to the park and buy colorful balls or small toys for a small amount of money. Teenagers gather and often bring their younger siblings along. This is quite unusual for us. And at least a quarter of the park visitors are street vendors, selling everything from water to ice cream and jewelry.

Of course, we also took a day trip to Valparaiso. The city is a mix of old, dilapidated and smelly areas, as well as appealing, well-groomed and nice areas. And there's the harbor, even though it's not the largest in Chile. If you're already there, you definitely have to take a ride on the old elevators. The mountains are quite steep. Unfortunately, most of the elevators are now out of order and are no longer being repaired. A few of them are still running for us tourists.