...Hillstiago?

Cerro San Cristobal...you thought you could defeat me.

From my bedroom window I have a pretty great view of La Concepcion Inmaculada (Virgin Mary) del Cerro San Cristobal. She stands tall and regal in the distance, looking over the city. She is illuminated at night, giving off a peaceful and angelic glow over all of the commotion of Santiago. I asked my host if there was a way to go and see it up close. The statue is visited by thousands of people every day, some even have frequent visitor cards (jk, there's no such thing).

We decided one Sunday to take the hike up the mountainside to see the giant glowing Virgen. Walking to Parque Metropolitano we passed by a street blocked off for a ciclobia, where there were families and couples and friends and neighbors biking and rollerblading and running. On the weekends the different comunas have different healthy-lifestyle promoting events and this is one of the more common events, especially in the summer.

Successfully avoiding getting run over by cyclists and bladers, we arrived at the park and saw that we could take one of two paths...the one up a concrete street that was occupied by less than ideal drivers or one through the  woods which seemed to more direct according to the map. We went with the woods.

We started off the journey lost. We couldn't figure out which path was the correct path that matched what we saw on the map. So we just kept walking toward what seemed to be closer to the top of the hill. At one point we were greeted by a stray dog that would walk ahead of us then wait for us to catch up, like he was playing follow the leader. After a while Kamaria named him Jesus (spanish pronunciation) as he seemed to be our guide through the wilderness. And the dog was right. He lead us up the mountain....well halfway up the mountain. That is when he ditched us for some wild hooligans that came sprinting down the mountain, jumping over logs and swinging from branches like Peter Pan's lost boys. I guess he thought they were more fun.

After we lost our canine captain, we had to rely on our Girl Scout skills and extremely vague trail signs. The signs were probably the least helpful thing I've ever seen. They don't tell you what color trail you're on. Which direction you should be walking in. Just a picture of a generic mountain with an arrow that says "you are here." No reference to the statue or the exit. It just assumed you knew where you were going.

After a series of coin flipping and following other hikers we finally found a way back to the cement path where we were safe from being hopelessly lost in the woods forever, never to be seen or heard of again. Another half hour later we finally reached the summit and stood before the Virgin in a sanctuary full of Sunday worshipers and non-Catholic tourists. The atmosphere was mostly reverential, aside from the teenagers who were running around. Some couples were there visiting a memorial sight. Old people were in the gift shop purchasing memorabilia and home decor. It was quite incredible to have an up close view of the woman I had seen in the distance from my bedroom window. It was also ironic how she looked so clean and holy from afar only to realize she was a pigeon stoop up close. Birds. Have they no respect?!

We stayed to see some local vendors, ate some really good popcorn and roasted peanuts and made the wise, wise decision to take the funicular down instead of risking getting lost in the woods again or getting hit by one of Chile's finest drivers. The funicular looked a little sketchy, but we were assured by an employee eager to use his English that the suspensions had been newly replaced so we were perfectly safe.

Sore legs and all, I can say that I have climbed up a mountain and lived to tell the tale. Ok, so it's really a big hill...details.

Poll! (I know you love these, right!)

What was the craziest thing we saw on our way up the hill.
A. Small children walking alone in the woods
B. A man doing a handstand on the guardrail
C. Fire breathing street performers
D. A crazy stray cat circling around itself
E. Kids doing crazy soccer tricks for spare change


Place your bets in the comment section!