Metropolitan Cathedral/ Museum of Science and Technology- Historical/Technology

On our third day we went down to Plaza de Armas and to see the Metropolitan Cathedral. Finally Joey was beginning to feel better since the “fantastic fast food fiasco”. We decided to walk down to Plaza de Armas first  to find a better view of Santiago itself. The city was beautiful with the wonderful backdrop of the snow capped mountains, and the beautiful architecture. When we finally made it down to the Plaza, we saw wonderful statues and fountains, but the real star of the show was the Metropolitan Cathedral. The Cathedral itself was built in 1748 and finished in 1800. It was a masterpiece of architecture with beautiful towers and wonderful statues everywhere.

The Cathedral was open to the public today, and we shuffled through the door. To our amazement, the inside of the Metropolitan Cathedral was equally as grand as the outside. The great hall which was covered in gold, paintings lining the ceiling showing biblical scenes that have come to life. Not only that, the floor was lined with thousands of black and white tiles as opposed to the boring rock floor of most. The stained glass windows let in wondrous rays of light shining in all different colors. Statues of angels near the stairs left wondrous childlike delight in our memories. We spent forever admiring the wonders and beauty of the cathedral. We snapped pictures until we didn't have space for any more. We decided to go down to the crypt of the cathedral next. It was a harsh dose of reality with its stark plainness and just an overall creepy vibe.

We enjoyed the hearing about the history of the cathedral from a worker there. She told us that this Cathedral was facing danger from earthquakes, and many others cathedrals had been destroyed due to the quakes. This Cathedral was very stunning to say the least. But soon our hours of wonder in the cathedral were over after we felt we’d seen all there was to see. Since it was lunch time we looked for somewhere to eat.  We decided that Cafe del Museo looked great. The food there was delicious, and allowed us to get a quick fill me up. While at the the cafe Jake got himself locked in a bathroom when he accidentally broke the lock. It took us 20 minutes for him to figure out how to get out and put the lock back together. Jake returned from the bathroom to cold shrimp and in a sour mood but he soon snapped out of it and was happy to get back on track. We walked around the plaza and the rest of Santiago some more.

While walking around we came across the Museo de Cincias y Technologia, which, in English, is the Museum of Science and Technology. Intrigued, we wanted to explore the museum more. Walking up to que up in line, we wondered what technology Chile would have as compared to the technology we see in the United States every day. As we reached the door, paid our fee, and entered the museum, we walked into what was the first exhibit. The exhibit informed us about how Chile’s food technologies and gigantic farms, similar to the United States. As we moved through the exhibit, we learned about how the infrastructure of Chile has really sprung up in the past years. A museum worker also told us about how there was a big push for entrepreneurs in Chile. A major area for entrepreneurs was in the Chilecon Valley, which was named after Silicon Valley in the United States, due to all the businesses that were popping up there. Our guide also told us about how the Chilean government in Chile is pushing for a lot of new businesses. The government gives incentives and breaks for startups. This process really paid off for them, considering Chile is high up on the list of countries with the most new businesses.

After the guide had left us, we wandered across an astronomy exhibit, which showed telescopes and a model of planet Earth. Apparently, Chile has some of the best stargazing in the world, so we made a mental note to pay attention more to the scenery around us in the sky. Nobody in our little group had noticed the stars before, mainly because we were not focusing on the sky, instead giving attention to the scene around us. It was interesting to hear about constellations and different stars. The exhibit was similar to something you could see in an American museum, besides the fact that it wasn’t talking about NASA, instead talking about Chilean astronauts and space explorers. We didn’t even know that Chile had gone into space technology. We felt as if we needed to catch up a bit, considering we were later told that the Chilean Space Agency was formed in 2001. We decided to ask one of the employees about good stargazing spots and times in Santiago planning on stargazing later. We were told a park near our hotel was a popular spot. We made a mental note and looked for another exhibit to go to.

We were going to make our way to the next exhibit when Noah pointed out how the time was passing quickly, so we left, thanking the guide that informed us about the exhibits. On our way out, we all determined we needed to stop for something to eat. On the street, we stopped in the first shop we came across. Inside,  we met a friendly restaurant owner who gave us free Cuchufli (a Chilean dessert) after we helped him clean up his shop. The shop owner told us that a couple days ago some people had come in and completely trashed his small store. He was very grateful and told us that we’d be welcome to more free desserts at any time we came by. We thanked him and decided to start heading back to the hotel. We passed through Santiago quietly, still reflecting on the impeccable architecture which bestowed the Metropolitan Cathedral. It was amazing that something so old could still be so grand. We expected a nice church, not the great temple of worship that we had found. Our entire group was silent throughout the entire way back to the hotel. The silence was broken when we reached the hotel. It was dark out now and all our us were ready to go to sleep. Slowly, we plodded through the lobby of our hotel, and the employee looked equally tired as us.  By the time we got back to the hotel rooms we were so exhausted that we forgot that the upcoming day was the big day we were waiting for, the Chilean Independence Day!