VALPARAISO: Chile’s golden girl of the past.

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Welcome to a remarkably brief blog - our little computer packed a sad, and we have lost two complete (and remarkably inspiring) blogs.

So we had three days in Valpo - Chile’s golden girl of the early 20th Century. Things were going exceptionally well here until someone had the bright idea of putting canal though Suez, and overnight cut Chile’s prime port into an antiquated sea side relic.

So picture an amphitheatre, with central harbour stage, admired from the steep galleries climbing to the skies with houses also piled in the alleys. Add some Wellington hill-side creative constuction in turn of the century buildings, a generous supply of cable cars, an overdose of remarkably helpful buses, and the modern adornment of street art, and this heady cocktail is ‘Valpo’.

And we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Meeting a bunch of school kids on tour, and ending up spending a marathon english and spanish Q&A session on each other - Magic! (Everyone was the winner, but Arlene came out of this with a chocolate bar, a post card, an extra facebook friend, many kisses on the cheek, and an adoring bunch declaring their love for her. All from 12 year olds.)
Strolling the steep streets working on right index finger RSI (Benj)
Taking the chance to have a sit down (Arlene) and enjoy the stunning foggy city-marine vistas.

As in all our travels so far, the dogs a passive and well adjusted, and the fences are taught to bite.

On to Mendoza (Argentina) next stop.

Gracias Valparaiso!

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Photos

photos of frigates strictly prohibited
Best done from a far hill at sun down and safely out of shooting range!

some political but not so artistic
probably growing momentum against the previous military regime

de fence
The dogs are passive but the fences bite

note the pregnant bulge
its the camera which keeps bursting forth like something out of alien.

Comments

[james st. james]

the pearl of the pacific
i've thoroughly enjoyed reading your blogs, and your pictures are among the best i've seen on travelblog. i like your travel style. just a little fyi, it was actually the panama canal and not the suez canal that "cut into" valpo's former glory. you probably already knew that though. enjoy the rest of south america and i'm looking forward to looking over your shoulder all the way. cheers!

[ArleneandBenj]

Ooops - a couple of Km´s out...
Thanks James! A small correction to my post-dormitory induced sleep deprivation, leading to a slight error. Although it was the kind of stuff up that made Columbus pretty famous. Happy reading and thanks for your comment!