After yesterdays disappointment of finding two out of three museums closed we were hopeful that today we would have more luck. We didn't, the main Arts and Cultural centre, which is praised in the guide book, is a very large underground building built under the square outside the presidential palace. Once inside we were surprised at how few other people were there but low and behold both the big halls were closed as they were setting out new, different, exhibitions. A smaller gallery had some quite nice photographs but that did not detain us long. Why they had to close both the main gallerys simultaneously was not clear but very frustrating. One of the new exhibitions was a Tate travelling show of Turner paintings which opens next week.
So we walked round the city, had a nice lunch and a beer or two and visited the Contemporary Art museum which was a little too contemporary for old folks like us.
The picture above is of the presidential palace whose main claim to fame is it was where President Allende committed suicide (or was shot depending whose story you believe) during the military takeover in 1973. Just as I was taking a picture of Gill outside the entrance all the guards snapped to attention, a TV crew started running to try to catch a picture of the officer in the white peaked cap behind Gill who was totally oblivious to the action her. No idea who it was.