Tuesday 23rd April
Today we had booked a tour to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar. which are a few miles north of Santiago on the coast. Valparaiso is a very important port and also cultural center.
Our guide was Max and our driver was Fernando and we had a large Hyundai van which was quite comfortable. Max was a young guy of 29 who spoke good English and told us his future was to be in Japan where he wanted to start a tour business.
We drove along the highway and eventually stopped in Valparaiso after climbing one of the many hills which form the city’s backdrop. Our first real stop was in Poet’s Plaza where the statues of three of Chile’s most famous poets are situated. They are the famous Chilean poets and writers, Pablo Neruda who won the Nobel Prize, Gabriela Mistral who also won the Nobel Prize and Vicente Huidobro
This are the Wikipedia entry for the Chilean poets:
After visiting the Plaza we walked a short distance up the hill to Neruda’s former home known as La Sabastiana, which is in a five story building which he bought when it had been abandoned, unfinished by the previous developer. There is an audio tour of the building describing it floor by floor. As there were many stairs, i elected to sit in the entrance way and listen to the commentary accompanied by some photos of the interior. Neruda was fascinated by all things maritime and spent much time observing the sea and the movements in and out of Valparaiso port. The house is quite charming and was designed with the help of Neruda’s neighbors who were also artist and writers. There were also many resident cats who live in and around the house and act as though they own it, (which of course, they do)..
This is Atlas Obscura’s take on the house which gives some information about it.
Leaving the house we walked the switchback streets of Valparaiso ascending and descending steps and steep streets one of which was used as a slide by some tourists although not us! The streets are lined with small picturesque houses and acres of street art.
At the foot of of the hill is the court house with its unusual statute of Lady Justice and also Armada House the offices of the Chilean Navy. Here we met our driver again and drove out of the city to Vina Del Mar an upscale beach town full of grand houses and a lovely sandy beach.
Here we stopped at a Peruvian restaurant for an excellent lunch, mostly of fish dishes.
Then it was on to a winery Casa Valle Vinamar at Casablanca on the road to Santiago. There we had two wonderful flights of dessert and a bottle of excellent Carmenere wine.
Then it was the last leg into Santiago. Just before the hotel we stopped so that we could exchange some money in preparation for the trip to Rapa Nui in the morning. Then it was back to the hotel, make preparations for our onward trip to Rapa Nui which involves a 6 a.m. start in the morning to make our 9.10 a.m. flight.
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