Avenida Pedro de Valdivia

I live on the corner of Pedro de Valdivia and Av Sucre. These photos are taken on the walk north up the avenue on the way to a friend's apartment. It's one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Santiago. In the 20s (I believe?), maybe into the 50s?, it was THE neighborhood for the socialites/ people with political punch. They built huge houses, all of which are oddly even and square, and then couldn't afford to maintain them as property prices shot up. SO they moved farther away from the center of town. SO the street is still lined with these really large houses, which are now either divided into apartments, or are businesses or government-type buildings. The street is lined with white peeling sycamores and maintains its blunted shiny cobblestone from years past. There is a great park with a bridge about 15 or 20 blocks from my house. It was a fairly clear day due to the rain all yesterday. I was hoping the mountains would be even more visible, but there were clouds. You can, however, still see the fresh caps of snow.