People's Republic of Valparaiso

We felt right at home! We spent 2-1/2 days in Valparaiso, the naval base and port closest to Santiago, a beautiful city with a long history of its own.

Valpo is reknowned for its hills and its ascensors, little funicular railways that take people up the hills. Unfortunately, Valpo's best days are behind it, and most of them have fallen into disrepair, including the famous one that's more like an elevator; but we had a ride on a working one. The view from up on any of the hills is spectacular!

Valparaiso is also known for lots of public art, including lots of graffiti and impromptu art. Pablo Neruda, Chile's poet and Nobel laureate, had a house here. We enjoyed strolling through the nearby Museo de aire libre (open-air museum: murals on houses and decorated lampposts). Every morning when we walked downhill from our hostel, we passed Salvador Allende striding confidently forward.

Down the street from our hostel was an iconic image that we saw often reproduced on T shirts and sold next to soy burgers on street corners. Two television sets piled on top of another with "Apaga la Tele, Vive tu Vida" (Turn off the TV, Live your Life) painted on them. In the day of so called reality TV, our sentiments exactly!


We took an afternoon to take the train to Viña del Mar, playground of the rich and famous. If Valpo is Berkeley, Viña is Orange County: neat, tidy, organized, expensive, hard to get around unless you have a car – the antithesis of Valpo. Bert spent a fun afternoon playing on the beach and in the water while Lisa tried vainly to get Gabi to nap in the baby backpack.






While we were in Valpo, we took in one of the America's Cup games: Chile vs. Venezuela, who had advanced to the second round on the strength of a last-second (literally; look it up!) tie with Bolivia. We found a pub that was no-smoking and therefore kid-friendly and settled in to watch another glorious victory by la marea roja (the red tide). Alas, it was not to be: Chile was bouncing balls off the crossbar, but Venezuela's shots were going in. (The Venezuelan goalie was spectacular and virtually inpenetrable; Chile's goalie looked like an amateur.) 2–1, Venezuela. The streets were quiet after that, but maybe that's best for the kids.

We found more of the spectacularly nice folks in Valpo: As we were roaming the hills near our hostel after an unsatisfying breakfast, we passed by a little (makes an apartment bathroom seem spacious) panaderia near one of the fancy hotels. The lady running the place took a shine to us and gave Bert a free empenada. What a great country!

If we were to go back to Chile for another extended time, Valparaiso could be an interesting place to live - we'll see! For now, we've settled for some fond memories. Back to Santiago for the home stretch!