Advertisement
Published: July 28th 2022
Thursday. We took a double decker bus to Valparaiso and had front seats upstairs. It was about a 90 minute ride. The landscape was arid with wineries. It was relatively flat at first but got hilly. We went through a long tunnel and crossed low mountains and through an area that had suffered a very recent fire. Near the bus station is the less than beautiful modern Chilean Congress that the dictator Pinochet had built after he came to power. We took a taxi to the Pablo Neruda House on a hill with sweeping views of the old city center and the port. It is one of his three homes. It has five levels of small rooms that are packed with interesting memorabilia and architectural details. After our self-guided audio tour we set out on foot down the hillside through the narrow streets and stairways that feature many murals, some public sculpture and ceramic mosaics. We had ceviche at a popular restaurant before taking a taxi to Iglesia de la Matriz, an historic church and national monument in the heart of the old city by the port. From there we walked a few blocks to the Historic Port of Valparaiso Market
with its glass-roofed atrium. We walked along the waterfront to the Plaza Sotomayor with its neoclassical Monument to the Heroes of Iquique. It faces an outdoor market and the Chilean Navy building beyond. Nearby we took Ascensor El Peral, one of the 22 funiculars in the city up the hillside and made our way to Baburizza Palace, a beautiful 1916 art nouveau mansion that became an art museum in 1971. The neighborhood has many murals. A gallery owner who had lived in San Francisco invited us to see the view from his balcony and look at the artwork by local artists. We explored the mostly residential area with its many murals, restaurants and shops.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.099s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0498s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Melanie
non-member comment
Golly
It’s a never-ending cruise! Did Pablo Neruda’s house always have a glassed in front entrance or was that added when it became a tour stop?