Valparaiso and Vina del Mar

Yesterday we got up early, took the subway to the bus station, an hour and a half bus ride to Valparaiso on the coast, and then in Valparaiso a taxi to the main square. The idea was to get there before the 10:00 am walking tour, and we just made it. It was well worth it. The tour took us up fascinating alleys and passageways we would have never found on our own. Our guide, Nelson, was a local. The tour started up a street with bars frequented by students - closed at this hour of the morning - were one can get a drink called 'terremondo', or earthquake, so called because apparently it is so strong that after drinking one the earth starts moving.

Valparaiso is built on steep hills leading down to the portside, and there are up to 30 furniculars around town.

Unfortunately there were closed because of the municipal strike, and we had to take the stairs.

Valparaiso is a UNESCO world heritage site because the unique character of the buildings that cover the hills - both in the architecture and the vibrant colours.

Nelson said there is a vibrant student and artistic life here. At some places they'll have a gathering and play music and make graffiti. The graffiti are works of art, and there are well known and well repected graffiti artists. Some of the walkways had spectular examples.

We ended the tour at the port, which seemed quite busy and the colourful array small boats seemed to match the town.

After the tour we joined another couple, Tim from Australia and Michelle from Brasil, for a walk up to a market place. Nelson came along as well to help show the way. Afterward the five of us took a bus to neighbouring Vina del Mar, which basically seems like a beach side resort town.

We stopped for a drink and had a nice chat for a while. Tim and Michelle met in Australia and recently got married, and have now started a business organizing destination weddings. Nelson is actually a translator and does the guiding a couple of days a week. Afterwards Nelson walked with us to the bus station in Vina del Mar, where Celene and I caught the next bus back to Santiago.

There are some downsides to being a world heritage site. Mainly, nobody is allowed to change anything to do with the architecture of their house. There was an empty lot where a house had burnt down, but nothing was built there because it would have to be an exact replica of what was there before. The colour and graffiti are OK, though. On the other hand, as Nelson saw it, if Valparaiso were not a world heritage site, it probably would have ended up looking just like Vina del Mar. Good point.

First full days in Santiago

We are staying at an apartment hotel right downtown in Santiago. The weather yesterday was very clear, with a view of the Andes over the city. The picture was taken from our window. The apartment hotel is actually only a few floors of a huge, 4 building complex of apartments, each one over 20 stories high.

We did a walking tour of the city with a group called Free Tours. The idea is that after the tour you pay by donation. It was great. The guide was a young guy from Edinburg named Johnny, who´s been living here for a year. We started in the main square of the city, the Plaza de Armas, which  has artists, performers, speakers, and people idling about. It is surrounded by a cathedral and important government buildings from the 1700s or 1800s. 

The tour covered the main parts of central Santiago: past the presidential palace and through interesting neighbourhoods like Lastarria and Bella Vista. It was about 3 1/2 hours long, and it was quite hot. Afterward we had lunch at a restaurant in Bella Vista that served home cooked Chilean food.

Today was cloudy and a bit cooler. We took the subway to the Parque Quinta Normal, a lovely vast space of trees, a little lake where people can rent paddle boats, and a waterpark for the kids. 

Next we went to the the nearby Museum of Memory and Human Rights - about the atrocities of the Pinoche regime. Unfortunately the museums are closed today because there is an election.

Overall, Santiago feels like a European city. It is very clean - which is even more impressive when you find out the municipal workers have been on strike. The people seem quite friendly and open, and public displays of affection are very common - so romantic!

It is too bad we don´t know more Spanish. In contrast to travelling in Asia, where English is like the international language, I feel more of a language barrier here, where even most other travellers speak Spanish so there is little or no information in English.