Things to do in Middle Chile
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Museo de Colchagua
Along with dealing arms, Carlos Cardoen has made a name for himself as a hard-core collector. The fruit of his passion is the incredible Museo de Colchagua, the largest private museum in Chile. The collection includes pre-Columbian anthropomorphic ceramics from all over Latin America; weapons, religious artifacts and Mapuche silver; and a whole room of huasos cowboy gear. Steam-driven machinery, winemaking equipment and a re-creation of Colchagua’s original train station fill the huge courtyard, and adjoining display rooms showcase old carriages and vintage cars.
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Natura
Fresh, natural ingredients are creatively combined into salads or simple grilled fish and chicken dishes.
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Main Market
The city’s main market is split into two sections on either side of Maipón between Isabel Riquelme and 5 de Abril. On the north side is a covered section known as the Mercado Central, which contains cheap eateries and butchers stands festooned with strings of the longaniza (a spicy salami-type sausage) that Chillán is famous for throughout Chile. The open-air stalls on Plaza de la Merced form La Feria de Chillán and are taken up with a mix of fresh produce and local arts and crafts. Simple ceramics, leather huaso (cowboy) gear and wickerware are good-value buys.
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La Casa del Arte
The massive, fiercely political mural La Presencia de América Latina is the highlight of the university art museum La Casa del Arte. It’s by Mexican artist Jorge González Camarena, a protégé of muralist legend José Clemente Orozco, and celebrates Latin America’s indigenous peoples and independence from colonial and imperial powers. The museum also contains several rooms of paintings by major Chilean artists, and hosts regular temporary exhibitions.
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Sewell
Up to 15,000 people once lived at Sewell, an atmospheric ghost town 55km northeast of Rancagua. Between 1904 and 1975 it housed mining families from El Teniente, the world’s largest subsurface copper mine, and has been preserved as a monument to the copper workers and their way of life. Built on a steep slope at 2600m, its distinctive, brightly colored houses are connected by stairways rather than roads.
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Escuela México
In response to the devastation that the quake caused, the Mexican government of President Lázaro Cárdenas donated the Escuela México to Chilĺan. At Pablo Neruda’s request, Mexican muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros and Xavier Guerrero decorated the school’s library and stairwell, respectively, with fiercely symbolic murals, now set within an otherwise normal working school.
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Museo San Francisco
Chillán's Museo San Francisco displays historical materials of the missionary order that, from 1585, settled in the area from Chillán in the north to Río Bueno in the south. It also includes letters from liberator Bernardo O'Higgins, who spent some of his childhood under the auspices of the Franciscan priests. The museum is in the church opposite Plaza General Lagos.
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Verde Que Te Quiero Verde
One of Concepción's few genuinely good restaurants. It serves inspiring and inexpensive vegetarian food, while its service is spot on and reliable. Choose from a range of healthy dishes, including green lasagna and hearty sandwiches. There are also some inventive juices (apple and mint). Upstairs out the back, a gallery and artists' studios are sometimes open for visits.
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Zuca Restobar
The hippest of the many restaurants on this street, Zuca’s small but intriguing menu includes squid-ink fettuccini with razor clams and squid or grilled fish on mashed potatoes infused with merkén (a Mapuche spice mix made of smoked chilli and coriander seeds). Pastel stucco walls and old movie posters strike just the right side of kitsch.
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Galería de la Historia
Political correctness is clearly not a priority at the Galería de la Historia, where small dioramas representing local history gleefully celebrate the massacre of the Mapuche at the hands of conquistadores and pioneers. If you’re able to overlook such ideological undertones, the models themselves are vivid and fun.
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Catedral de Chillán
On the northeast corner of Chillán’s main square stands the stark, modernist Catedral de Chillán. Built in 1941, its soaring semi-ovaloid form is made of a series of earthquake-resistant giant arches. The 36m-high cross next to it commemorates the thousands of Chillán residents who died in the 1939 earthquake.
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VTS
You can only visit Sewell and El Teniente on organized tours run by VTS. Tours leave from both Santiago and Rancagua, and include a trip down into the still-functioning mine, a tour of the town itself and a visit to the Museo de la Gran Minería de Cobre, a museum housed in a beautiful 1940s modernist building.
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Sublime
Spidery chrome light fittings, stripped pine floors and upholstered red leatherette booths with unusual donut-shaped tables are an unusual way to kit out a traditional townhouse. But Conce’s coolest eatery is all about unexpected combinations: mains could include kingklip in a hazelnut crust or steak served in pear sauce.
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Café Toro Bayo
This popular student watering hole heaves with good-natured revelers on weeknights and weekends alike. Pictures of Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley oversee the pitchers of beer, and the Escudos and piscos are sunk deep into the night, accompanied by healthy measures of banter and buena onda (good vibes).
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Las Viejas Cochinas
Talca’s best-known restaurant is a huge, clattering, low-roofed canteen out of town alongside the Río Claro. Dour waiters take forever to bring out the house specialty, pollo mariscal (chicken in a brandy and seafood sauce), but it’s worth the wait. Fresh fried fish is a quicker, and equally tasty, option.
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El Chiringuito
Everyone who’s anyone in Zapallar makes a point of lunch at El Chiringuito, where terrace tables look out over the rocks and hungry pelicans fishing for their dinner. Yours is almost as fresh: locally caught kingklip, sea bass and sole are what it does best, dressed in whatever sauce you choose.
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Tren del Vino
The most novel way to try the local wine is aboard the Tren del Vino, a steam-train tour that leaves every Saturday from San Fernando station. You start the wine tasting on board, visit a vineyard and have lunch there, then wind up at the Colchagua museum before returning to Santiago by bus.
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Vivace
Surprisingly attentive service marks this as the dining location of choice in central Talca. Its interior is fresh and tasteful, as is its Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. Try the rabbit grilled with onion and carrots. Vegetarians are well catered for, especially with the lovely Tortellini al Roquefort.
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La Casita de Barreales
Local foodies are unanimous: the subtle Peruvian ceviches and chaufas (a Peruvian take on Chinese-style fried rice) here are the most exciting thing to arrive on Santa Cruz’s tables in years. The secret is definitely out – the warmly lit adobe house fills up quickly on weekends so try to book.
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Reserva Nacional Río de los Cipreses
Set in the Andean foothills 40km east of Rancagua, this little-visited 370 sq km park contains a variety of volcanic landforms, hanging glacial valleys, waterfalls and fluvial landscapes. The park ranges in altitude from 900m to the 4900m summit of Volcán El Palomo.
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Mercado Central
Pint-sized cocinerías (greasy-spoon cafés) abound in this atmospheric setting; the paila marina seafood stew is the big specialty. You can't miss row upon row of the longaniza (sausage), a Chillán specialty, dangling from the surrounding butchers' stalls.
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Fuente Alemana
If you arrive late, tired and hungry on a Sunday night, head here. Staple Chilean favorites, including salads and large meat dishes, are served in the upstairs diner until late daily. There's also a selection of sandwiches and küchen (sweet, German-style pastries) to snack on downstairs.
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Museo O’Higginiano y de Bellas Artes
Talca’s one and only sight is the 1762 house where Bernardo O’Higgins signed Chile’s declaration of independence in 1818. Known as the Museo O’Higginiano y de Bellas Artes; at the time of research it was closed for a total overhaul and isn’t due to reopen until late 2009.
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Fina Estampa
Starched tablecloths, fiercely folded napkins and deferential bow-tied waiters bring old-time elegance to this Peruvian restaurant. Ceviches, ají de gallina (chicken in a spicy yellow-pepper sauce) and other classics are perfectly executed, as is grilled seasonal fish.
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Gran Azul
The huge ultramarine dining room at Gran Azul fills up quickly in summer – classic Chilean seafood is the attraction. On the sand below, the same owners operate a cheaper, outdoor bar called Banana which does empanadas, burgers and drinks.
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