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Here’s more on my Santiago.

República is a neighborhood that heads south from along the Alameda, departing from about Los Héroes, República or Unión Latinoamerica metros. Moving south from the Alameda, the next two main streets are Sazié and Grajales, and I took a Sunday spin today (yesterday now) to show you a little more of non-touristy Santiago. There are a couple of backpacker specials, most of the guests under the misinformed impression that they’re staying in Barrio Brasil, which, in fact, is north of the Alameda. But República doesn’t have much caché, so Barrio Brasil it is (not).

There’s a lovely street (República), with old mansions, most of them subsumed into the large numbers of universities and institutes (technical schools) that give this area its other name, “Barrio Universitario.” República runs north-south. But Sazié and Grajales, these east-west conduits, are my streets. They’re where I walk to get to the plaza, to the supermarket (which, strangely, has a bowling alley above it, more on this later), into and out of the neighborhood, bumps and cobblestones and the occasional old trolley track be darned. It’s my neighborhood. With corner stores, and stores that only sell vegetables, and the whistle of the knife-sharpening guy sometimes on the weekends.

Almost every time I go out on Sazié and Grajales, I either take pictures or wish I had. Today I went out just for you, to show you a little piece of my Santiago.

And then I made, oh, a slideshow. With audio. It’s my first attempt, so be kind.