Saturday in Santiago: Parque Bicentenario
When you have a dog, you tend to become familiar with nearby parks and plazas. You might even get to know some not-so-nearby parks if they’re worth the trip. Parque Bicentenario in Vitacura certainly is.
This park – surprisingly enough intended to celebrate Chile’s bicentennial – has been open for several years now with plenty of grass, a dog agility course, children’s playground and even a little lake with some black-necked swans. The swans are native to Chile, as are many of the plants and grasses used in the park. Lola, however, is anti-swan because dogs are not allowed to swim in the swan lagoon.
Luckily for her, a new section of the park just opened up. It more or less doubles the size of the park overall, and it includes a swan-free lagoon. We think they’ll probably put signs up soon banning swimming, but for now a certain someone is taking advantage.
This new section is set-up for summer, with deck chairs, umbrellas and festively striped ice cream kiosks. It’s too soon to tell if they’re a seasonal touch, but it gives a certain “lounging on the lido” old-school seaside vibe.
In all honesty, there’s not a whole lot to say about a park, no matter how lovely. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to love about a park, especially in a city. Having a little place to get away from it all – especially a place where Lola can swim and run to her heart’s content – is hard to beat.
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Saturday in Santiago
It is just so much fun to spend time with your dog in a green space and it gives dogs a place to exercise safely. I am happy to hear you found a nearby park and that Lola has been able to go for a swim and retrieving a stick thrown in the water in the summer heat
It really is! Except of course when she decides to shake herself off right next to me, but I guess that’s just one of the perils of dog ownership.
I didn’t realize how widespread dog parks have become. It’s great because even city dogs need some wide open spaces. We have a few in Denver, plus a really nice park called Washington Park.
With so many stray dogs in Santiago, there aren’t really any leash laws (well, technically there are, but they’re not enforced). So pretty much any park is a dog park, although this with the agility course is certainly more focused on dogs than the average plaza.
I just went to the new part recently and it’s pretty! I think I’ll like it more when there trees are bigger and there’s more shade since that will be better for photos. But it’s cool, I love that they let Lola swim in the pond. Hopefully that won’t change.
I agree, the vegetation’s still a little scrawny looking. Actually around this lake, there are spaces waiting to be filled with plants, and you can see the black plastic they used to line the lake itself. But Lola doesn’t seem to mind!
Awww – look at Lola swimming! Gorgeous!!
She thinks she’s an otter. Or maybe a beaver since she’s carrying a big stick.
Oh it’s such a lovely city-escape!
It’s a really beautiful park. I think one of the things that makes Santiago so liveable for me is having relaxed areas like this to break up the hustle and bustle.
Bottle of wine in the park when we arrive in a few weeks?
Oooh, that could be arranged! We have to be really classy and drink our wine from water bottles to avoid detection, but I don’t mind if you guys don’t.
My dogs would die without a place to run and play, even though they have a backyard and doggie door. Walks are the best part of their day and probably mine too!
Lola goes out plenty, but there’s nothing like a big wide open space full of interesting smells and other dogs.
I wish I could get my puppies in the water!
We have the opposite problem – getting her out!
It’s interesting how dogs can help us explore new places in the city we are living in! My dog loves the water as well
You’re right, I’m sure that wherever we live next, we’ll end up finding the dog friendly spots that we might not have looked for otherwise.