Valparaiso, Chile


Valparaiso, Chile is a beautiful seaside town about an hour away from Santiago.

The view from our window was gorgeous.  Below is a shot of our hotel, Fauna, which has a lovely rooftop restaurant.

The artistic bent of the city of Valparaiso is clear to all through the fantastic murals and graffiti that cover just about everything.  Here is a sample.




Everything is covered in murals, stairs too.



Make sure not to park in the wrong spot.


And, watch which pole you lean up against.



 Eventually, we went on a free street tour about all the outside art. We only gave a tip and became very informed about the start of the graffiti and how it came to engulf the city. It is illegal unless you get the permission of the owner of the wall to agree to the painting, which many artists do. Once a painting is done, it is distasteful to paint over it. Somehow we missed the painting of Beethoven and the piano keys on the stairs until this tour, even though it was close to our hotel.


There are funiculars in various points of this rising port city. We rode a few and their prices seemed to change by the hour or day. They were still very cheap - 100-300 Chilean pesos a ride. This is far less than a dollar. The country is well developed due to the copper mining industry, which is why we were so surprised by the military coups that happened in the 1970s. So let’s not fool ourselves into thinking it could never happen in the  USA.




On our last day we took short ride in the harbor and learned about the port. The sea lions live there and are happy to be there. Some of the ships can wait months in the harbor to get or give their shipments. Nobody swims here as you can see the unclean water. You have to go to Vina Del Mar or Isla Negra for a good beach, but they aren’t far. The problem is that it’s the Pacific and no Gulf Stream, so the water ain’t warm, even if the air is.


Wealth (Yes, that is a metal Calvin sculpture.).


Poverty.

In Valparaiso, the wealth is seen the higher that you ascend the hills.  The creation of the Panama Canal made Valparaiso a less important port city.  Today, tourism is a main driver of the Valparaiso economy.


With street art that references 1980’s SKA, how can you go wrong.





Comments

  1. JoeMJoeApril 8, 2023 at 6:01 PM

    Thank yuz both. The photos and commentary presents conditions in Chile better than American news media.

    ReplyDelete

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