Santiago and Valparaiso

The neighborhoods of Las Condes, Bellavista, and Providencia are beautiful places to stay, with resturants, nightlife, shops, arts fairs, and accommodations. I stayed downtown, which was a little bit of a walk to get to any of the entertainment districts. The city parks (Cerro San Cristobal, for one) are good and central places to get away from the traffic and noise.

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The Vegas, while pleasant, was not really my kind of place. The outside is very charming, but the inside definitely feels like a hotel. The rooms were comfortable and clean, although decorated with late 70s/early 80s colors and furniture. The attached bathroom was sparkling. Noise was fairly minimal - be warned, though, that Chileans in the city love their car alams, and they''re ALWAYS going off. There are city guides and restaurant brochures scattered throughout the hotel. The hotel does have historic significance - Pablo Neruda was a frequent guest, evidently.

I stayed on Cerro Alegre in the excellent Hotel Prat (it''''s the big yellow house on the edge of the hill looking down on the town), which had a great view from both the outdoor cafe below and the room windows above (but the noise at night was horrible - there''''s a bar at the base of the hill that is extremely loud). The hotel also had a nice bar on the bottom floor.

The funiculares are an easy way to get from the downtown area to the hills - they''''re essentially outdoor elevators that take you up and down the steep hills for a very small fee. They''''re also protected by the UN as a World Heritage Monument. The nicest hill neighborhoods to wander were Cerro Concepcion and Cerro Alegre, where you''''ll find small shops, homes, and children playing in the quiet streets.

The Cafe Turri on Cerro Concepcion serves an excellent dinner, with stunning views of the bay.

That night, I did see a large student rally in downtown, with bands, banners waving, and many students shouting anti-Pinochet slogans. There was also a rally planned at the university for the ''''disappeared,'''' those who went missing during Pinochet''''s rule. There was a lot of criticism of the current president for letting Pinochet enter the country like a triumphant general, but little else was made of it.

In all, I think people were subdued because the history of Pinochet''''s atrocities was not as distant at the history of the military junta in Buenos Aires. The feeling on the streets in B.A. was lighthearted and free; the feeling in Santiago was much more wary.