colorful houses of Valparaiso

Just when we we were beginning to miss San Francisco (kind of), Lila and I arrived in one of Chile’s most interesting cities, Valparaiso, an hour and a half south of Santiago. Built among 45 hills, Valparaiso is a spectacular maze of neighborhoods full of cafes, restaurants, and notable churches. Spending our days strolling up and down through the barrios, we enjoyed the amazing murals and often spectacular graffiti that seems to cover every square inch of the city. There are numerous art schools in Valparaiso, giving the city a very bohemian and artsy vibe.

In addition, one of Pablo Neruda’s most interesting houses, La Sebastiana, is here and open to visitors. We also had a chance to visit Neruda’s third and perhaps most famous house, Casa de Isla Negra, on a day trip that took us further south.

View from Casa de Isla Negra

One of the most interesting features of the city is that the top and bottom halves are strikingly different. The lower half of the city (“El Plan”) sits at sea level, full of towering buildings and busy narrow streets. It is a stark contrast to the vibrant neighborhood above. To get to the upper part of the city is a serious climb, or for a few pesos you can take one of the many funiculars (or ascensores), basically an old rail car that takes you diagonally at least part of the way up the hill.

a house on the cliff

On day three we met a nice couple on their honeymoon from Amsterdam, Marcel and Domi, who offered to allow us to join them in their rental car for a tour of the wine country just east of the city. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Santa Rita vineyard that included several bottles of incredible wine, making for a great day with new friends.

paper airplanes

The following day we took a train just a few miles further north to Vina Del Mar, a bit fancier town that sits just above several very nice beaches that make there way around the point further north.

night view from our apartment

Finally, at the end of our stay, we boarded yet another bus and made our way, after 14 hours, through the high Andean peaks to Mendoza, in the heart of the Argentine wine country

Bussing it through the Andes

Click here to see the rest of our pics from Chile. Or click here for our new Argentina pics.

My favorite graffiti in Valparaiso, Chile. Does anyone have a clue what this means?

With the Andes to the east and the Pacific to the west, the flight from Iquique to Santiago makes for some more breath-taking scenery. After two weeks in the dusty beach towns it was a refreshing change of pace to be in a modern vibrant city. Santiago is fantastic. Sitting in a valley surrounded by towering snowcapped peaks, the city is a nice balance of colonial and modern architecture. The city planners have done an excellent job of providing plenty of open spaces, parks, and plazas to make the city open and friendly. Being the urbanites that we are, we appreciated the subway system, the great restaurants, and the plethora of cultural activities – museums, galleries, theaters, and plenty of places to grab a drink and socialize outdoors in the temperate climate.

In order to wash off the dust from the previous weeks, we decided to use a chunk of miles and book a room at the deluxe Sheraton San Cristobal Towers Hotel. After 3 days of laying by the pool, filling up on the complimentary happy hour on the top floor looking out over the city, and using the sauna, gym, and steam room we were ready for a change of pace (and totally out of sky miles), so we checked into the Hotel del Patio, a nice little boutique hostel that sits over the main plaza in Bellavista, Santiago’s bohemian neighborhood, full of cafes, bars, art galleries, and La Chascona, the third house belonging to Chili’s most famous poet Pablo Neruda. We also celebrated Valentines Day here with a Flamenco show and a great dinner of tapas and a nice bottle of wine.

We were also lucky enough to be in town for the Frieda Kahlo / Diego Rivera show at the Centro Cultura de Moneda, one of Santiago’s many museums. The highlight for me being the many traditional dresses worn by Frieda on display.

After a week of modern life, it was time to move on once again….

Playa el Laucho, Arica Chile

After three weeks of frigid Andean heights we were so happy to cross the border into Northern Chile and get back to the beach. After a 6 hour bus ride followed by a short train ride from Tacna Peru, we entered Chile in the small tranquilo beach-side city of Arica. Like much of northwest Chili and Southern Peru, the town sits bellow giant barren sandstone cliffs. Like northern Mexico without the trees. Aside from surfing, Chili has some of the best waves in all of South America, the locals also like to go sand boarding, hand gliding, and all kinds of other life threatening activities

This part of the country was most known for it’s now defunct nitrate mining towns that brought wealth and prosperity to the country in the early part of the century, eventually replaced by copper mining which now accounts for most of Chili’s GNP. Chileans are also quite proud here since aquiring this part of the county from Peru after the War of the Pacific in the late 1800s.

Now, however, it is more of a vacation destination for Chileans who want to spend some time in the sand and the sun. Luckily, and to our surprise, the residents were gearing up for the Fuerza Del Sol (Sun Festival), a week long celebration full of street parades and great music. We saw over 4000 dancers in a variety of dress – from traditional garb to outlandish masks and costumes.

Fiesta de Fuerza del Sol, Arica Chile

Plaza Pratt, Iquique Chile

After visiting Arica and Iquique, a similar beach resort town further south, Lila and I moved on to Santiago, Chili’s capital for another amazing week… pics and stories to follow soon…

Our Chile pics can be found here.

Mullet Men

One of the first things that you notice when you cross the border between Peru and Chile is not the changing climate or landscape, but the vast number of men, women, and children sporting the infamous mullet. I seriously haven’t seen this many mullets since I moved out of Sonoma County in the mid-eighties. At first I thought that this was a new Chilean phenomenon, but after Googling “Chilean Mullet” I found that I wasn’t alone. Fortunately Lila and I were both vaccinated against the mullet. However, the same cannot be said for the “Shaun Cassidy” that I have been sporting for the past month. Time to go get a haircut…

The Shaun Cassidy