Wednesday, July 18, I headed to the north part of Santiago. Los Dominicos is a church and land owned by the Dominican order. I don’t have exact dates, but I believe that the church has been there since the early 1700. Unfortunately, the church itself was locked. Still the area was a peaceful break from the six lanes of traffic that I walked along to get to the church!

Next to the church, is a craft market that is open everyday of the year….like LL Beans! It was interesting to walk around and see the local crafts and the artist creating them. Copper figurines that hang on the wall are popular here, as are leather goods and sweaters and shawls made from Alpaca wool. Lapiz and malachite are popluar stones used for jewelry. The most interesting craft, I thought, are the figurines made out of horse hair. They shape them into butterfly pins, flowers, little dolls with parasols. Some were white, made of bleached horse hair. Other figurines were various colors made from dyed horse hair. I didn’t buy any as they are so fragile and I am certain they would break if I traveled with them.

Walking back to the hotel, I took routes through different neighborhoods. It was much nicer and more peaceful. After awhile, one neighborhood looks like the next, which I think you find in most large cities. (Have I mentioned that Santiago has a population of 6 million?) There are high rise apartment/condo buildings. Some appear to be about 20 floors, but I don’t think they get much higher. Maybe that has to do with earthquake codes….I don’t know. Then there are areas with single homes. Some of these homes are small, some are mansions. Eventually, as I walk, I will come to a park and a couple of corner stores. One park I came across today was named Martin Luther King, Jr Plaza! I also saw the “New England” laundry mat…do you think they know what or where New England is????

That was pretty much it for the day….it was a “9 mile day”.