Chile and Patagonia 2016 – More Valparaiso!

Date Explored: January 29, 2016

Continuing on with the street art of Valparaiso, a don’t-miss stop if you’re around Santiago. Do yourself a favor and go! Stop at a winery along the way.

Oh, a puppy! Okay, not street art. But this pooch followed my group of four and our guide around the skinny streets of Valparaiso on our morning walking tour. Street dogs are abundant in Valparaiso. We were traveling with my sister-in-law, and her younger brother (my husband's older brother, so the middle child) died of an asthma attack when he was only 25, way back in 1981. A couple of months before Andy died, he traveled Europe with me and my then-boyfriend-now-husband. So I told SILly that Andy's spirit had slipped into this street dog for the day. She liked that. :)
Oh, a puppy! Okay, not street art. But this pooch followed my group of four and our guide around the skinny streets of Valparaiso on our morning walking tour. Street dogs are abundant in Valparaiso. We were traveling with my sister-in-law. Her younger brother (my husband’s older brother, so the middle child) died of an asthma attack when he was only 25, way back in 1981. A couple of months before Andy died, he traveled Europe with me and my then-boyfriend-now-husband. So I told SILly that Andy’s spirit had slipped into this street dog for the day. She liked that. 🙂
These dogs might not have "real" homes, but here and there you'll find these community dog houses, and that's where some of the lucky street dogs get to stay. A stray dog could do worse!
These dogs might not have “real” homes, but here and there you’ll find these community dog houses, and that’s where some of the lucky street dogs get to stay. A stray dog could do worse! Oh, and there’s Antonio, the most cheerful tour guide in the world!
Let that just soak in for a bit. This art was near the street dog housing.
Let that just soak in for a bit. This art was near the street dog housing.
I love this big giant head! It's an old woman painted on the corner of one of the corrugated-iron-clad buildings. If you've even been to Newfoundland, before they started changing the brightly colored wood houses to white vinyl, well, the bite of the sea air would quite destroy the wood, requiring tons of maintenance. In Valparaiso and other parts of Chile, they use corrugated iron for siding because it stands up better than wood against the salt air.
I love this big giant head! It’s an old woman painted on the corner of one of the corrugated-iron-clad buildings. If you’ve ever been to Newfoundland, before they started changing some of the brightly colored wood houses to white vinyl, well, the bite of the sea air would quite destroy the wood, requiring tons of maintenance. In Valparaiso and other parts of Chile, they use corrugated iron for siding because it stands up better than wood against the salt air.
Painted at the top of one of the MANY steep, steep roadways.
Painted at the top of one of the MANY steep, steep roadways.
A gate to colored stairs. I think this is my fav photo of Valparaiso. It reflects the gorgeous color and character of the old part of the city.
A gate to colored stairs. I think this is my fav photo of Valparaiso. It reflects the gorgeous color and character of the old part of the city.

Along with cool skinny streets and all that lovely art, Valparaiso boasts several “funiculars.” I’m not quite sure how to describe them, but they’re like taking an outside elevator/gondola up a hillside. You can google for images and/or visit this link. We only had time to ride one funicular, so we rode the longest. I rode a very short funicular in Quebec City once. It descended us from one street to the next. The one in Valparaiso stretched quite a distance. You could stay another night in Valparaiso easily just to explore the city via funicular. One night quite simply is not enough.

In the afternoon, filled with potato chips, nuts, cheese, salami, and bottled water, we explored a bit of Vina del Mar, where we stayed during our first night in wine country, just across the bay from Valparaiso. Honestly, our primary concern was finding a bank. But we hadn’t yet learned the ways of the siesta, and the banks were closed, even the ABMs.

We visited the newer areas of Vina del Mar as well as stopping at their famous floral clock. Then began the drive back to Santiago, where at least three transport trucks carrying flattened copper passed us. I’d never seen copper being transported before. Very cool.

We finally found working bank machines at a gas station, where we filled up on ice cream bars and set out on our way again.

Antonio dropped us off at the Hilton by the airport, because the following morning we were flying to Easter Island! We liked the Hilton fine. We like staying as close to the airport as possible the night before a flight we really don’t want to miss. There was also a Holiday Inn, I believe, much closer to the airport! Now I know why the Hilton was cheaper–it’s not a great distance but nowhere near as close. But it had great showers, and the meat lasagna was to-die-for.

Travel Tip! If you like to be super close to the airport, maybe try the Holiday Inn. It’s just across the road. Getting TO the airport from the Hilton via shuttle was a cinch. We just booked it for the morning of the 30th once we arrived on the 29th. Getting BACK to the Hilton from the Santiago Airport following our days on Rapa Nui was a bit more of an adventure….

We said goodbye to Antonio at the Hilton. My husband gave him a little gift he had packed from home. My husband packed two of these gifts to give someone who we felt had gone the extra mile for us, and the first of those two people was Antonio. Tears shone in eyes and big hugs were squeezed all around as he departed. What a great guy.

We wouldn’t see another tour guide until we boarded the Australis cruise for our adventure through the Patagonia fjords two weeks from this point….

By Cindy

I'm irritated because my posts won't publish.