Photos 2013: Santiago, Chile

Our flight from Buenos Aires took us over the Andes, then we made an overnight stop
in Santiago. We had just a couple of hours to look around the centre of the city

Aerial view of the snow-covered Andes

Here the Andes form a solid mass of mountain

Aerial view of the snow-covered Andes

More of the Andes

A statue of an indigenous man with a broken face

This statue in Santiago's central square commemorates the Mapuche and other
indigenous people and hints at their suffering over the centuries

Street sign for Avenida O'Higgins

It's not very Spanish, but the name O'Higgins - one of the leaders of
Chile's independence movement - appears all over the country.
This is one of the main roads in the centre of Santiago

A statue silhouetted against an office block

This statue of a former President stands in an open square
near government buildings and the University

Statue of the Virgin Mary with flowing robes

In Santiago Cathedral we found this typical Latin American representation of the
Virgin Mary. Some say that the flowing robes and crown are derived from the
mountain and the sun, which were worshipped by the indigenous peoples

A Chilean flag in front of a large office block

"General Pinochet used the first five floors as his headquarters", our taxi driver told us.
"Friend of Margaret Thatcher." They still remember - and so do some of us

A view of the Andes behind buildings and trees

Even in the heart of the city, the Andes are not far away

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