Santiago

I was born in Stgo and I lived here the most of my life. Although that doesn't mean that I know Stgo very well; actually I think that I just now a little bit of it. Maybe one of the reasons because I don't know too many places in Stgo is because I lived the most of my life in Colina, a little town in the north of Stgo. In this sense, I've never felt as truly "santiaguino", and actually I often use the expression -: "Im going to Stgo", when I want to say that I will go to the city. Nevertheless I don't feel as "peasant" either , because I know stgo better that the persons that come from other regions. So I think I have some kind of an identity issue with this.
However , if your're a tourist or foreigner I think that there're several places to visit and many things to do in Stgo. For example you should visit or do a tour starting in the San Francisco Church (built in the 16th century), one of the oldest architectonic buildings of the city. Afterwards, you could visit the Government Palace ( "La Moneda") and the museums that belong to it. Then a tourist should visit the the "Plaza de Armas" and some national monuments and atractions such as the Cathedral, the city Hall of Santiago and the the Central Post Office. Near those places you could try some chilean typical street foods such as “completos”, “motes con huesillo”, “sopaipillas”, etc. The trip could continue towards Santa Lucia Hill (the exactly place where Pedro de Valdivia founded the city), a small hill in the center of the city that is famous for its architecture and views. If you prefer the museums I recommend without any doubt the "museo chileno de arte precolombino", where you'll find an amazing institution created in order to conserve, study and diffuse the artistic legacy of the pre-columbian people of all America. Finally, I'm sure that the long walk will give to everybody a huge appetite and the best places to eat excellent chilean dishes are in the "Mercado Central". In other hand, If you end the walk thirsty you should try "La Piojera" and their traditionals drinks as the "Terremoto", "chicha", "pipeño", etc.