Today we spend the day with Gonzalo, our tour guide, in the coastal town of Valparaiso about an hour and half drive from Santiago. The landscape we pass is very much like our California coastal hills–chaparral and sagebrush. We see a Condor in the distance; we will see many more in Patagonia. We pass through two valleys on our way to the coast. With each valley the smoggy haze of Santiago diminishes. Valparaiso was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. I don’t have a clear idea of what we were expecting but we find the steep coastal hills crowded with old, bright and multiple-colored, graffiti-pocked, dilapidated houses.
Gonzalo asks if we’d rather be on our own but we insist that he join us. We’re grateful that he did because he gave us a much better perspective on the town and its history.
Our exploration starts with a ride up the hill in one of the town’s ancient funiculars.
Valparaiso has a rich architectural and cultural history. From the mid-1800s to early 1900 immigrants from all over Europe, especially England, Germany and Italy, came to make Valparaiso their home. Each group established their own unique enclave on the hills. The houses are generally very large and have the distinctive feature of siding made from corrugated metal. All are painted incredibly bright colors: florescent lime green with lavender trim for instance. Many have “gingerbread” details. All the rock-formed walls supporting the houses on the hill are covered with graffiti. Most of it is elaborate murals
but there are ugly, nonsensical paintings as well. We walked up and down the steep streets. Many of the houses have been renovated and are now B&Bs and hostels. But there are buildings in bad need of attention too. The cobblestone streets are being renovated with care and skill.
Valparaiso was a vitally important port for all ship traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific (traveling around Cape Horn) until the Panama Canal was built. The port here was instrumental in supplying the gold rush in California. Other examples of Valparaiso’s past glory are: the first stock exchange in Latin America; the continent’s first fire department; and the oldest Spanish language newspaper (still in circulation).
We had a very nice lunch at a small 2nd story restaurant. We are immediately served sliced baguette with a tomato salsa of sorts. Gonzalo says that it’s a typical beginning treat and is really delicious; in fact the whole meal is delicious. We all had seviche as our 1st course. For the main course Howard had a small beef steak and Gonzalo and I had the local fish, Reineta. I could not resist ordering “papas fritas” (french fries) but Howard chose a side dish of potatoes with a chili seasoning. He said I would be jealous when I asked for a taste–and I was!! Dessert course was tiramisu for Howard, chocolate raspberry cheesecake for me and flan for Gonzalo.
We also had the best Pisco Sours yet! After a little after-lunch walk around the nondescript downtown area we head home.
Thanks to our friend, Gonzalo, we left with a much greater appreciation of what Valparaiso had to offer.