Valparaiso is Valpar-amazing!

What a fantastic day in Valparaiso!  An inexpensive and relatively short ride away from Santiago, it is quite an alluring city.  Pictured here is only a sliver of what the city has to offer in terms of high quality street art.  Houses, stores, hostels, alley ways, stairs . . .so much is painted.

 Valparaiso is a port city that once flourished but began a decline once the Panama Canal was opened. The influx of people from the world round, plus the melancholy of a city longing for days past made it an artist destination.  Thus the street art and the location of one of Pablo Neruda's homes.

Pablo y Yo

La Sebastiana

I was both fascinated and impressed by the amazing architecture, deco, and history of the home.  It has a naval esthetic and captivating views of the sea. From what I could gather (and I have Neruda's poetry in the category of "things to learn more about"), he was a lover of the arts, people, sharing food and drink, and appreciated the finer things in life.  He also saw socialism as the only way to create equal rights for Chile's abundant copper workers.  Unfortunately, there were no photos allowed inside.  I would have loved to have shared the beauty that it is.


Valpo is made of many hills (cerros) there was once 30 working elevators to bring citizens and travelers up and down the steeps hills.  Now there are only 8 in working order but are relics from the 19th century!

  

 It was a pleasure to learn lots of information and explore the city with fellow visitors!

Espana, Brasil, Argentina, USA