I might be biased since summer is my favorite season in nearly every city. But — Santiago’s charm truly shines through in the summer. After a long winter of no indoor heating, smoggy days, clothes taking weeks to dry on the clothesline, walking to class in the rain, flooded streets and reading Facebook updates about warm weather from Northern Hemisphere friends … summer is finally here. And I’m lovin’ it!

1. Grimy Santiago has transformed into a beautiful city.

The thick blanket of winter smog has finally cleared for summer’s sun to shine above the Andes. Flowers are in bloom everywhere: in home gardens, in pots on apartment balconies, in rows on street medians and in parks. The trees are green, with full leaves forming canopies to shade streets. It’s beautiful.

These beautiful purple flowers are blooming everywhere and I just can’t get enough!

My favorite rose garden, which is in Parque Arauco in the Las Condes area.

2. Social hour lasts all day long.

Chileans love sitting outside at patio tables in any weather, but especially in summer. Sidewalk seats are teeming with people enjoying morning coffee or an afternoon snack with a friend. When there’s not a table nearby, it’s to the shaded grass under an old tree for a short siesta.

Morning coffee in uptown Santiago.

Sleepy Saturday.

Las Condes neighborhood.

3. It’s festival time.

Ferias (markets) and festivals are popping up everywhere this season. Everything from outdoor art exhibits to food festivals to movies in the park are in full gear. More street vendors are out peddling summer treats like mote con huesillo (sweet nectar juice made with dried peaches and wheat) and of course, ice cream.

A little art exhibit near a cluster of office buildings in the uptown Las Condes neighborhood.

One of two festivals being held in Parque Arauco in the Las Condes area. It was neat to walk through and find fairs at both ends of the park. One was for Chilean artisans and the other, a sandwich fest.

4. Exploring is easy.

Working at an institute for business English, my hours are often sporadic and I have a lot of free time throughout the day.  That coupled with nice weather means I often opt to walk rather than take public transportation to my destination, which leads to discovering cool new things in the city.

Pretty fountain and glass building in the Las Condes neighborhood.

A cool building in the Providencia neighborhood. I think, but am not sure, that the colors on the windows are controlled by the amount of sun.

5. Ice cream tastes better.

Chileans are seriously obsessed with ice cream. There’s usually a fancy parlor on every block but if by chance there’s not one — fear not — there’s sure to be a minimarket with big freezers or street vendors with ice chests to the rescue. Fast food joints even have separate walk-up windows that sell solely ice cream. This food group is not relegated to children, either. It’s not uncommon for businessmen in full suits to be licking a double chocolate cone on their lunch hour. Although this madness over the frozen treat happens year-round, I’m convinced ice cream tastes better in the summer sun.

6. It’s the season of love.

Public Displays of Affection are nothing unusual here! Since it’s tradition to live at home until marriage, many couples use the public parks, metro trains, sidewalk benches, grocery store lines, etc., as their personal cuddle-fest make-out zone. I kid you not! I think the amount of public affection here is absolutely mind-boggling, but Chileans are not the least bit shy about showing their love. And now that summer’s here, it seems like everybody has got the birds and the bees.

Love. On the tree-lined streets of Providencia.

—JDF