Santiago

Today we visited the capital of Chile, which is Santiago. We first went to Bolsa de Santiago, which is the largest stock exchange in Chile. We watched an informative video on the stock exchange, but the presentation afterwards was lacking. Unfortunately, the trading floor was under construction so we weren't allowed to see it. Therefore, this visit was not the most exciting as we just sat in a small auditorium the whole time.
After leaving Bolsa, we walked to see the building which serves as their White House. While there, we were bombarded by high school girls who wanted to take a picture with us since we were American. This was surprising because I thought that Santiago would have more tourists; however, these schools may not have been in Santiago so the students might not have seen many tourists in the countryside. We also walked to the central plaza. We went inside the largest church in Santiago, which was beautiful and we walked around the Chilean history museum, which had artifacts from Chileans such as rulers and farmers.
Next, we headed to Mercado Central where we ate at the most famous restaurant in Chile. It was a seafood restaurant that was amongst fresh seafood shops with whole fish sitting out. I tried the salmon with shrimp and alfredo sauce which was pretty good, especially since I have never willingly eaten fish before!
After we were done eating, we headed up a mountain on our bus instead of the funicular. When we got to the top, which is 600 meters above sea level, the view of Santiago was breath-taking. We could see all of Santiago and the Andes Mountains in the distance. Also, I walked up further to see the large statue of Mary which stood at the highest point on the mountain. It was a beautiful view. We also walked around all of the tourist shops that were at the top of the mountain.

Overall, I really enjoyed Santiago as the streets had a European feel. There is so much energy and a lot of people walking around. I also loved all of the historic buildings and the plazas. However, I am sad that tomorrow will be our last day in Chile.