Santiago, Blog 5

Valparaiso, Blog 5

Yesterday (Sunday  we drove about 75 miles north west of Santiago to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, 2 adjacent cities each with a population of about 300,000.  Vina del Mar is the newer one with many modern high rises and beautiful beachside promenades. Influenced by the Humbolt Current, it is similar to the northern Californian coastline from Santa Cruz to Carmel complete with sea lions, pelicans, (but no whales) and freezing temperatures—55 degrees.  Nevertheless, people were out sunbathing and playing in the water because it was an unusually beautiful day. 

We first stopped to see one of the few authentic Easter Island heads outside of Easter Island.  It was made of coarse stone but fairly symmetrical.  One of the benefits of travel is the opportunity to see things “in person”.  My favorites are the Xian Warriors, the Great Wall of China, Bayeaux Tapestry, and the Pyramids/Sphynx. I never thought I’d see an Eastern Island head!

Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage site with multi-colored homes built on steep hills.  Before the Panama Canal was built, it was the major port in South America as people came around Cape Horn.  Consequently it has many European influences in its architecture.  According to our guide, during the California

Gold Rush, hundreds of thousands of Chileans went to San Francisco and many streets there have Chilean names ??????  Any idea which ones?????  We had lunch in a small, charming restaurant on top of one of the hills.   It was in an old, restored building with a vaulted ceiling of stained glass and ferns hanging in all the windows, which overlooked the port.  Lunch was more like dinner and very delicious.   We started with the ubiquitous Piso Sour, which is too strong for me, followed by a variety of appetizers:  artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, seviche, and a sweet tomato pickle relish.  From a choice of 4 entrees, Dan had veal (Elaine—definitely not milk-fed!) which was like a short rib and I had a wonderful white fish—reiñeta.  I passed on the wine that was included.  We had a typical  Chilean dessert—very finely chopped fresh fruit topped with whipped cream...very refreshing.. To get back to the bottom we took a funicular over 100 years old.  I always think funiculars are fun, but some of the women didn’t agree, but they put their big girl panties on and coped.

The ride to and from Santiago goes through the Coast Range and fertile valleys.  I was surprised that there are many palm trees and cactus, which look like saguaro.  Evidently Darwin was, too, when he was here.

Dan has his usual terrible allergy cough so he stayed in while I went out for a very light dinner (caprese salad) with another couple who are from Kentucky.  They paid us the high compliment of saying that if we lived in the same town, we’d be the best of friends.  It was very nice to hear.  I think it’s because they are fairly close to our age, have 1 son, and 2 grandsons, 8 and 10 and we can share grandson stories!

This morning we leave for Montevideo, Uruguay.