I’d read rave reviews on Trip Advisor about La Bicicleta Verde and their tours around Santiago, so that was our first stop & preferred method to see the city.
The Mapocho River was just a block from their headquarters, and our Parks & Politics tour started there we were learned a little history about the town.
There are several very large parks around downtown Santiago, and our particular interest in the tumultuous recent political history of Chili prompted us to set out on adorable little green bikes to learn about the country’s colorful past.
I was really surprised by Santiago in general- it wasn’t at all what I expected. For the most part, it lacked the extremely noticeable Latino flair & there was so much new construction of ultra-modern buildings. Apparently the economy was booming now that there was political stability.
The parks were beautiful and I was especially impressed by their large libraries (books are insanely expensive there). We say lots of people just out and about, enjoying the beautiful day.
We took a short stop at this interesting and historic building that was originally built for a UN convention, eventually used by the Pinochet regime and is today part museum and part ministry of defense.
Early on, in one of the parks, we picked up the awesome dog. He knew our tour guide & proceeded to follow us several miles for the rest of our tour. Turning every time we did, stopping when we did, and dodging cars a few times that really scared me!
Our next stop was at the impressive Plaza de la Constitucion, where we heard lots of tales about the military dictatorship and the violence that marred Chile for decades.
I really enjoyed seeing the city by bike- it’s faster than walking, but slow enough you get to take in all the sites, smells, and sounds of the city. It was difficult to take photos while riding- I did lots of shooting just to try to get a few that looked OK. The tour company was fabulous and the offer several other interesting city biking tours around Santiago.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: After several days of rain, I’m very thankful for a covered walkway, and covered parking both at home and the office.
Its a nicely written content, a nice work done here. I like it very much a great piece of information is also given here. And also requesting to post some content who are not regular traveller as me. As a tourist I have only experience of Sundarbans National Park (http://www.sundarbansnationalpark.com)