What an interesting place...

A chilly morning to discover Concepción and my first stop on the other side of town was the Casa del Arte where “La Presencia de América” (America’s Presence), a colourful 120ft mural by Mexican Jorge González and others, which celebrates the independence of Latin America and its history. On Monday's it was closed but when I explained I had come all the way from Australia to see the mural, the kind lady opened the gallery and let me have a private viewing. Not one to normally get excited about art works, I found this one very impressive and it told a pretty vivid story. From there I walked to the Plaza Jurásica where full-scale dinosaurs dominate the forested park in the middle of Chile’s second city. It is the home of the Museo de Historia Natural (also closed on Monday's). Interestingly when Concepción was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake the dinosaurs survived with only minor damage!. It was then onto the Concepción markets, which were destroyed by fire in 2013, but stall holders try and sell their wares amongst the ruins of the building. Finally it was onto the Enrique Molina Theatre, the ruins of a grand building destroyed during the most powerful seismic catastrophe ever recorded. This is the same earthquake that smashed Valdivia which I spoke about last week. Check out the before and after shots below!

Concepción is a very walkable city, if you don't mind the world's worst footpaths. It seems everyone is trying to sell something here. It was pretty funny when it started to rain suddenly everyone was selling umbrellas! I was going to do some laundry here until I saw the Lavanderia!! Tomorrow I continue my journey back to Santiago.