Through the streets of Chile

Nov 16

1 min read

Well, a lot of my time in Chile was spent lurking around, strolling and walking aimlessly or looking for my next meal or for a landmark in the streets. And the streets didn't disappoint. They were a treasure trove - a gold mine of culture, architecture and an expression of the populace.

Cities in Chile were linked, by a common template of design, the design of the Spanish Conquistadors - a central Plaza (mostly called the Plaza de Armas) with city in a gridlike pattern, emanating from it. The Chilean street names were common between the cities - christened with important dates (21ts of May and 18th of September) or the important Chilean personalities - Liberatador Bernardo O'Higgins, Diego Portales, Arturo Prat, Pedro de Valdivia or after names of places - cities in the country (Valdivia, Vicuña, Araucania) or after neighbouring Latin American countries (Peru, Buenos Aires, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brasilia).

But it was the streets where the cities and towns infused their identities - The architecture and the drawings on the walls, the graffitis of protest and distrust, the signboards, the names of the local shops, the design of the houses. It was these little details and nuances where they differentiated themselves from the others.