Santiago, Chile: The Top of the World...or at Least Santiago

After class today, Max, Kim, and I went to the top of San Cristobal Hill, the second-highest point in Santiago.  We intended to hike it, but in our quest for a path, we found the funicular that goes to the lookout point...so we took that instead.  Above is the view from the front of the funicular, and when we got to the top...

...we saw this!  We were fortunate to climb the hill on a day with minimal smog, and the view of the city against the backdrop of the mountains was spectacular in every direction.

The three of us at the top.  It took about seventeen tries to take this picture, because first I kept cutting either people or the background out of it (I was doing our self-portrait), and then Max kept closing his eyes (it was pretty sunny).  At least we got a decent one in the end!

At the top of San Cristobal is a giant statue of the Virgin Mary, which was a gift from France in 1920, as well as a little church and outdoor sanctuary.  Aside from the fact that it's nearly impossible to get a picture of the statue without the cell phone tower in the background, it's a really nice place (and it would be awesome to hear Mass here!).

After exploring the top of San Cristobal, we found a path down the mountain through the woods.  Now that we know where it is, next time, we're going to take the path uphill--definitely the more difficult direction.

Once we got to the bottom, we just had a short walk along the highway and over a bridge to get back to our school.  I include this picture because I find it hilarious that Santiago built these long bridges over a river that is at most 2m wide.  The only thing I can figure is that in the winter, when it's rainy, the river must be much wider...but it still looks ridiculous now!