Valparaíso - Valpo for short

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We left Santiago looking forward to hitting the beaches, but instead we hit 3 days of cloudy skies. Only at 6pm on our last evening did the sun come out!!

Valpo wasn’t our favourite place. We had expected something small and quaint with beautiful funicular railways running up and down its many hills. Instead we found a place looking tired and unloved, in need of a good clean and a lick of paint. It was also suffering after a huge gas explosion and fire ripped apart part of the historic quarter the night before our arrival. The acrid smell of smoke still lingered in the air.

But let’s look at the positives! It has an excellent Metro train system to get you away from town! The funiculars are very cheap and good fun to ride, although the creaking and wobbling does have you worried occasionally!! Some of the barrios have an eclectic mix of brightly painted houses which was good. The fish in restaurants near the Central Market was superb.

Finally, in the Naval Museum it has an excellent heritage attraction. We were particularly impressed with the section about pirates. It seems the Sir Francis Drake was somewhat less than the gentleman and hero he is depicted as back in the UK!

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Photos

The green wall
Why would you do this to your house?

Disaster
The fire was substantial.

Stained glass windows
commemorating voyages of discovery

Yo ho ho
and a bottle of rum.

Condor
Figurehead of the Esmerelda

CSAV Towers
If you have to ask, you don´t need to know!!