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Published: February 2nd 2007
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Av. José Tomás Ramos
We were warned several times (even by the police) to have our cameras out in the open on this street, but took this one anyway. With a day to spare in Santiago we were looking for some sea and sun. Valparaiso (Valpo) and its neighbouring, more upmarket town, Viña del Mar (Viña) are just 1.5h away by bus, so jumped on the bus early in the morning.
Valpo is an old harbour town from the time before the digging of the Panama Canal, and as such it was experiencing economic decline after the canal opened. Today it houses part of the Chilean naval fleet and is a destination for tourists, who mainly come there to wonder around town and look at the colourful houses climbing the hillside towards the harbour. We're no different to other tourists, so spent much of the day walking the streets and riding some of the 15 feniculars that run along the hillside.
We had also heard about a sea lions frolicking in the harbour, so we took a boat trip looking for them. They seemed to have gone away on some conference, or whatever sea lions do when they're not were they're supposed to, as we couldn't see a single one. A bit disappointed we went to have some lunch at the main hub of Valpo - Plaza Sotomayor.
Lord Cochrane's balcony
had some nice views. (actually Rear Admiral Thomas Alexander Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquês do Maranhão, apparently one of the most daring and successful captains of the Napoleonic Wars (the French nicknamed him "the sea wolf").) After lunch, it was time for the beach. Viña del Mar (Viña) is the place to be then. This is the place the Santiagoans go to for a quick sea and sand-fix, like Brighton for Londoners. From Valpo its a 10-minute ride on the one-year-old metro-link between the two towns. Very convenient!
In Viña the scenery is a bit different from Valpo, much more Mediterranean seaside resort than Chilean harbour town. Nice still. We spent some time at the beach, H went for a swim, had a milkshake and took the metro back to Valpo, to catch our bus back to Santiago at 8pm. On the way to the bus we passed Pinochét's last project, the congress hall, commissioned in 1980 and finished ten years later. A rather ugly-looking building, just opposite the bus station. Just on time, we jumped on the bus and almost instantly fell asleep after another successful day.
Med en dag kvar i Santiago ville vi se lite sol och hav. Valparaiso (Valpo) och dess grannstad, den fashionablare Viña del Mar (Viña), ligger bara 1,5 timme bort med buss, sa vi tog morgonbussen dit.
Valpo ar en gammal hamnstad fran tiden innan
Valpo's harbour...
...was full of big cruise ships. Panamakanalen gravdes, och som sadan har den upplevt ekonomisk nedgang efter kanalens oppnande. Idag haller en del av Chiles flotta till dar, samt ar en destination for turister som kommer for att vandra runt i staden och titta pa de fargglada husen som klanger sig fast pa sluttningen ovanfor hamnen. Vi ar inte olika andra turister, sa vi tillbringade dagen med att promenera runt pa gatorna och aka nagra av de 15 branta hissar som gar upp och ner for backarna.
Vi hade ocksa hort talas om sjolejon som skulle simma runt i hamnen, sa vi tog en battur for att leta efter dem. De verkade ha akt pa konferens, eller vad nu sjolejon gor nar de inte gor vad de ska, for vi sag inte ett enda. Lite besvikna gick vi till Valpos centrala torg - Plaza Sotomayor - for att ata lunch.
Efter lunch var det dags for stranden. Da vill man vara i Viña del Mar (Viña). Det ar hit Santiagoborna aker for en dos hav och sand, som Brighton for Londonborna. Fran Valpo ar det en tur pa tio minuter med den ett ar gamla taglinjen som gar mellan de tva staderna. Valdigt praktiskt!
Ascensor El Perral
(little verniculars that took you a few metres up or down the hills.) Viña ar annorlunda mot Valpo, mera turistort vid Medelhavet an chilensk hamnstad. Trevligt dock. Vi gick langs stranden, H badade, vi drack milkshake och tog sedan taget tillbaka till Valpo for att ta bussen tillbaka till Santiago klockan atta. Pa vagen till bussen passerade vi Pinochéts sista projekt, kongresshallen, som stod fardig 1990 efter tio ars byggnation. En ganska ful byggnad, mitt emot busstationen. Precis i tid hoppade vi pa bussen och somnade nastan direkt efter ytterligare en bra dag.
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