Valparaiso!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Valparaiso is a fun city in Chile!! It is the largest port for the country, so it is quite important for commerce. Yet, there is a large “artsy” feel in the city. These steps are painted with the phrase in English “We are not hippies, we are happies.” This clearly summarizes the unique culture of Valparaiso.

As we drove from Santiago to Valparaiso, we stopped at a winery for wine tasting!! Chile is world-famous for their superb wines. As we drove, our guide noted that one valley was known for growing grapes for white wines, while the next valley we drove through was warmer and they grew grapes for red wines in that area. I love Chilean wine!!

In Valparaiso, we rode up this cable car to get a nice view of the city!!

The importance of the port is clearly seen with the number of cranes and ships in the sea.

Unique English spelling!

Chile, and especially Valparaiso, is quite colorful!!

This old building with unique architecture is being refurbished.

A beautiful theme of Valparaiso is the art seen everywhere! Murals are unique, creative, colorful, and often tell a story. I loved looking at them!!

The shapes and colors are amazing!! These artists are very talented!!

I especially liked this mural because it was so lively and colorful!!

Every theme imaginable was painted in the murals!!

This home is sort of pie shaped!! On this end, the house is quite narrow. A person inside could almost touch both walls at the same time! However, the home widens significantly on the other end of the house. It is 3 stories, so it is actually a large home.

This panther seemed to be a favorite of our group!!

This yellow building used to be a British finishing school. It has been remodeled and now has rooms available for rent. I should also mention all the wires strung all over Valparaiso. We were told that all the wires are not live. If electricity is needed, the simply hang a new wire. They never bother to trace and remove the old wires. It is odd to see so many wires running between buildings.

I liked the colors of this raven!!

The building in the distance is a Lutheran church. Although there is a strong Catholic heritage in Chile, this church was built because many foreign workers in the port city wanted access to another church too.

This seems to be a typical street in Valparaiso. The streets are often narrow one-lane roads, with modern cars, and murals all along the buildings! It is a very eclectic and arty community.

I loved these beautiful sunflowers!!

For lunch, we were invited to eat at the home of a family in Valparaiso!! This is the spectacular view of the city and harbor from their balcony!! What a beautiful view!!

After lunch, our hosts fixed us an alcoholic dessert that tasted wonderful!! The hosts called it an “earthquake” because after drinking a dessert, you could find yourself wobbly on your legs as if you were in an earthquake!!