Valparaiso, Vina Del Mar, Chile - February 29 - March 1, 2020
Today is a Leap Year Day. . a very lucky day. It is also Stan's bonus day to remain a year younger. Manana es el cumpleanos de Stan!
We celebrated Stan's birthday today and booked a day-trip to the coast. We had a fantastic guide and a fantastic day. The tour package included pick-up at our apartment and a trip out of Santiago, along the mountain side valleys through Casa Blanca to Vina Del Mar, then on to Valparaiso.
In route, we stopped in the city of Vina del Mar to see the Easter Island Moan statute standing at the Fonca Museum. Strangely enough, this iconic Easter Island statue was pulled up at its home-spot and donated by the Rapa Nui people (Easter Island) to Chile. Somehow sitting outside a museum, it just seemed out of place. We were told these statues were built on Easter Island as monuments in the images of the deceased buried below them. On Easter island, the statues are arranged in a circle with faces looking inward not toward the sea.
As we went through Vina del Mar, the Garden City, we stopped for photos at the famous and pretty Flower Clock, built by the city in connection with its hosting the 1962 World Cup. Many people stop there. The area is also known for its beaches but time did not allow a visit this trip.
Next stop was the Fish Market of Valparaiso. A UNESCO site, this unique city offered so much! A premier attraction is the fish market. It merely and thoroughly tantalizes the senses . . . the smell, the vibrant colors; the loud and varied sounds simply attacked us!! Fish and shellfish just pulled from the ocean were displayed in all sizes and colors; butter fish, tuna, swordfish, and more; clams, oysters, barnacles and scallops, whole crabs, stone crab claws, octopus, and urchins were laid before us. Cups of fresh ceviche tempted us. Shellfish, just shucked, showed colorful meats begging us to taste. Believe it or not, the smell was not unpleasant! Not fishy at all. But do know this, these creatures were at snug at home in their aquatic beds only 2 hours ago.
Behind the stalls of fresh sea food were the fishermen still at work at their colorfully painted boats, unloading their catch and preparing for the market just behind them. Just opposite the boats was another row of stalls. Here, men and women worked expertly with minimal motions wielding sharp knives scaling, cleaning and gutting fresh caught fish. Above, communities of gulls flew wildly about in anticipation of fresh food of fins, heads and guts. Just off the pier, fat, well-fed sea lions, pelicans and more gulls waited their morning meal. One visit to this amazing place is not enough; we must return!
Finally, the center of the resort city of Valparaiso! Seventy-five miles northwest of Santiago and fondly called "The Jewel of the Pacific," Valparaiso is a major seaside city in Chile. Sitting in a "cup" on the ocean, surrounded by mountains, it hosts a natural deep-water port. It gained most importance during the early 1800's serving as a major stopping point on the Atlantic to Pacific voyage. Shipping brought immigrants from countries all over Europe. It also brought wealthy Europeans who built houses and palaces reflecting grand architecture from their homelands. Thirty funiculars took people up and down the steep hillsides from the upper-level residences to commercial shops and businesses down below. Sixteen of these rail lifts still exist today although nine are currently being restored.
Today the city is center for culture and higher education with five traditional universities and more vocational schools. More obvious to the eye, it is a mecca for artists. Just the view from the hillside to the Pacific is inspiration enough for art. But the unique characteristic of Valparaiso is its colorful buildings and the murals painted on many of them. At one time because houses had no house numbers owners painted their homes different colors to identify them, yellow, blue, orange, pink, soft reds, and pale green. Colorful doors became important distinguishing features too. The scete of colorful buildings flung upon the steep hills of city is breathtaking. The view surely pleases the eye.
Many building are painted in murals. The concept of street art came from Mexico where it once flourished. When Pablo Neruda, poet and diplomat to Mexico - and later, 1971 Nobel Prize winner for literature -- came back to Valparaiso, he brought Mexican artists with him.
In 1973 Valparaiso was put under military dictatorship and art, especially art in connection with politics, as banned. Pablo Neruda and artists who defied the ban "suspiciously" died or disappeared. People began to see art as a form of expression and the narrow, cobbled, winding streets became perfect places to paint in secret. This art played an important role in the return to democracy in 1990.
Today, street art is legal with the building owner's permission or the city's permission on public buildings. Famous artists are sometimes commissioned by businesses and homeowners as a way of attracting customers or distinguishing the home.
All this creates a spectacularly beautiful city of houses, and narrow, cobbled winding streets nestled on the hillsides overlooking the cold Pacific.
We climbed the stairs and walked the cobbled streets, zigging and zagging the neighborhoods as we toured this outdoor "museum" of art. All this unique beauty, the original architecture, the colors of the buildings and the cobbled streets,are protected now as the city was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
Lunch was seafood!!!
The return trip to Santiago featured a stop at the Veramonte winery in Casablanca Valley to view the beautiful organic gardens and vineyards where grapes from Merlot, Carmenere, Pino Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc are grown and made into wine. We sampled vino blanco y vino tinto before returning to Santiago in the early evening.
March 1 - Stan's birthday.
Pretty well exhausted from the week's Espanol studies and the all-day trip yesterday; we made it a quiet day for Stan's birthday.. Church then Stan's choice for lunch, Carl Juniors. The burgers and onion rings were a little disappointing; they looked much better than they tasted. Oh well. We spent the afternoon sunning at the roof-top pool/patio while we studied our Espanol. Spaghetti for dinner, again, Stan's BD choice, topped by a call from Coco! Perfecto!
Happy birthday, Stan! I love you!