Blogs from Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America - page 6

Hola, This area was recommended to us by Cristian, who said as we only have one day left to see something other than Santiago we should make the 2-hour bus trip to the port of Valparaiso. It use to be the leading merchant port through out the Pacific Ocean routes, however since the 1906 earthquake and opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the popular use of the port and the financial income that went with it declined. Today it is used for the cruise ships and fruit exports. The city was given an UNESCO, so being marked as a world heritage site and also being voted cultural capital about 10 years ago the tourism has boomed. Neil and I spent the day here wandering around the cobbled streets. The best parts come when you take ... read more

Valparaiso or Valpo as it is affectionatly called is one of Chile's principal ports and naval bases. Its port has played a key role in many naval explorations and most recently, during the California Gold rush, creating substantial wealth for the early settlers of the area. Unfortunately with the completion of the Panama canal the fortunes of Valpo started to erode. Now Valpo is a lively and vibrant city, we were both insipred by its ramshackled beauty and its mishmash patchwork of brightly coloured houses built over 45 hills. During the boom area city planners either didn't exist or they were ignored as roadways run randomly everywhere - a grid system it is definately not. We felt that this just enhanced its appeal, spending many hours strolling through the labyrinth of alleyways catching glimpses of the ... read more

After visiting Argentina and Chile I’m getting the distinct impression that every country in South America has its own problems. One concerning factor for me is the strained relationship Latin American countries have with each other. In Europe we all speak different languages but when we are united by threat we talk and decide the best course of action to beat the threat. Look at the ‘Je suis Charlie’ incident in France, and how quickly the French, British and German leaders got together. You don’t get Angela Merkel saying ‘Oi Cameron don’t speak to me, you declared war on us back in the 1940s.’ or president Hollande saying ‘Oi Angela we don’t want your help, at least not after what your government did, using part of our country to exterminate Jews back in WW2’ No, us ... read more

I left the hostel as soon as possible after breakfast, relieved to be in one piece and have all my luggage with me. It was easy and cheap to get back to Santiago, only about one and a half hours by bus. The very interesting conversation that I had with the taxi driver in Valparaiso gave me thinking material for the entire bus journey. He told me all about the very unexpected and destructive earthquake in 2010 which had its epicentre in Concepcion and then created a tsunami which killed 300 people mainly in the South of Chile. It was unexpected because they hadn’t had a big earhquake in 50 years or so. He explained that earthquakes can’t be predicted but tsunamis can. When an earthquake happens in the ocean, it is expected that a tsunami ... read more

THE HOUSE LA SEBASTIANA The house is located on Florida Hill. The architect who built it was called Sebastian Collado, a Spanish man. He had built it for his family but died before finishing the work and the house was abandoned for 10 years. At the time, Neruda was looking for a place to buy in Valparaiso so he bought it together with his two friends Marie Martner and her husband Francisco Velasco, who were also responsible for designing parts of the house. The house was inaugurated in 1961 and it was called La Sebastiana in honour to its first owner Sebastian. Like his other house in Santiago which was also damaged, this house was looted after the military coup in 1973 but thanks to Telefonica de Espana, it was restored and opened to the public ... read more