Early the next morning, after coffee, crepes and croissants, we'd make the jaunt to the Pacific and spend the day exploring the famed sister cities of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso...
HIDDEN PICTURE CONTEST: Can you find these four objects hiding among the pictures? If so, leave a comment (just click the word "comments" below the post) and describe where they are! The winner will receive free lodging in Montevideo AND a place of honor in this blog!
Very Easy--Victorian Section:
Very Hard-- Voilà Section:
Very Very Hard--Voyage Section:
Very Very Very Hard--Vista Section
VICTORIAN
After an hour of rolling rural hills, our bus began meandering down the steep western edges of Chile to the "Vineyard of the Sea". Modern yet historic, Viña del Mar's grid grows evenly around a small river crisscrossed by bridges. We began ambling past bustling shops and parks. We rejected a high priced horse drawn carriage driver, but when he trotted after us with a lower offer, we decided to pony up for a four wheeled victorian tour.
And we're off...
The historic Hotel O'Higgins, built in 1934, remains a city landmark...
Militant motorcycle cops look prepared for some extreme chase scenes...
Pedestrians parade over the Marga Marga estuary that bisects the city...
Palacio Carrasco, built in 1912, features art, music, gardens, and a statue by Rodin...
Feast your eyes on one of only six of Easter Island's mysterious menaces on the mainland...
Outside the Fonck Museum, home to thousands of indigenous examples of Moai and Mapuche relics...
Clopping by a gothic church, our driver, Jose promised...
That the sun would soon come out...
Our first sight of the Pacific was at Playa Acapulco, filled with frolickers and summer breakers...
Turning south, a powered para-glider prepares to strafe the striders along the weathered waterfront while Valparaiso hides in the distant haze...
Hotel del Mar's 2002 facade now abuts the famous Casino Municipal built in 1930...
Another unknown house of worship sits in central Viña's streets...
In 1923, Palacio Brunet, a national monument, was erected atop Cerro Castillo, Castle Hill. Today it operates as a tourist information center and a police station!
At the pivotal point of our transcontinental adventures, Jose poses for a digital memory. Without a laptop along for the trip, our half filled camera chip now holds over seven hundred high resolution pictures!
VOILÀ
Back on our feet we retreat down the street to the ocean. As the sun chews through the fog we log our final steps crossing our second continent together! Leandra models on a bridge below Palacio Brunet...
But, what's the hurry? We were starved so we savored the moment at Barlovento--a waterfront restaurant where the Andean snow melt finally felt oceanic freedom. We dined on fine cuisine and chilled Chilean white wine. Then, it was time...
Three local landmarks--Castillo Wolf, Cap Ducal, and Castillo Presendencial, armor a hidden harbor at the mouth of the Marga Marga...
A few steps, a small fuss, and voilà...to us!
Leandra began the ceremony and certified it was cold. Being bolder, I mocked her and walked in the water...She was right! Brrrr...just like Oregon and unlike Uruguay!
A vintage view of Viña del Mar and the Marga Marga...
Cap Ducal is docked on the rocks, attracting curious new crews for chow or a cabin with a view...
Cap Ducal's pelican populated stern, "U-turn" beach, the glassy classy Barlovento at the sand's end, and the grand Hotel del Mar and Casino...
Here's one for dog lovers. Animals must be intelligent because this hound is bound to be thinking, "What's so funny?"
Welcome to Castillo Wolff, Viña's naval museum...
The view toward Valparaiso includes more landmarks, a sparkling new Sheraton, and wave-breaking outcroppings covered in bird droppings...
Along this cruise, tourists peruse the often clicked "Reloj de Flores" or Flower Clock. We didn't have time, so I took a second to find one on the web...
The pink Castillo Presedencial, complete with cannons, is summer home to the president, currently Michelle Bachelet Jeria, Chile's first female. According to the flagpole, she wasn't present...
Just before we boarded a bus--a local, loco bus capable of light speed and exchanging passengers without completely stopping--we got a great shot of summer life in Chile.
VOYAGE
Valparaiso is possibly Chile's most famous city famed for it's historic port, rainbow ed mosaic of cliff-clinging abodes, a maze of teetering streets and funiculars, and a bohemian citizenry of poets, writers, and artists. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002, it's former elegance and prominence as a necessary pre-Panama Canal stop for ships circumnavigating South America is returning.
As soon as we literally leap of the bus, we hop into a tourist contraption to take a short cruise around the bay...
Right away, we spy a sign of home...we wonder which way they came: the Panama Canal or the Strait of Magellan?
Our energetic guide rides the rail relaying anecdoates about boats with both motors and sails. These deck wavers have come from the Bahamas according to this aptly named aft...
Boats of every sort cavort around the sound...
A rotating restaurant sits on top of this hotel at the bottom of the hills...
Like a thousand piece puzzle that explodes in your eyes, confused colors and hues of houses tantalize and bemuse on one of Valparaiso's amusing coastal hills...
We took a moment to look at ourselves above the undersea shelves of the sea...
Crews of Chile's navy are queued...
Mercurial entrepreneurial vessels race and wrestle to complete the tour and get rid of their valuable catch and bait a fresh batch...
Ships and cliffs blur in a haze of details...
Taking a shot toward the armada we got a scolding in español...
The Esmerelda, a four masted corvette, provides training for Chilean sailors...
Three pug-nose tugs wait to chug and lug loaded luxury and cargo liners around...
Back ashore, Leandra lands a date with a mate as the afternoon gets late...
below this monument to the Heroes of Iquique lie the tombs of Prat, Condell and Serrano--three naval heroes from the 1879 War of the Pacific between Chile and Bolivia-Peru.
This azul neoclassical 1910 sturucture currently houses the Naval Command Headquarters, but previously served as summer home to several past presidents. From here, our specific Pacific quest is complete and the return to Uruguay begins with the upward bound labyrinths of the Valparaiso hillsides...
VISTA
Loacted in the heart of Valparaiso, Acensor El Peral rises up into the neighborhood covered cliffs...
Funiculars put the fun in foot tours...
These antique gears have been hoisting their hosts to the top of Cerro Algere for years...
Surrounding hills hide more diagonal railroads among the pleasant pastel barrios...
Leandra consults Frommer under a wonderful tree while vistors and me ponder views from the glommed on walkway known as Paseo Yugoslavo
European remnants regale us with their decorations at Palacio Baburizza, Valparaiso's Fine Arts Museum...
Mindbending perspectives tempt our depth perception as vertical convolutions outweigh their lateral counterparts...
Majestic miniature mansions mount the many mesas...
Lost in the labyrinth, looking into nooks and alleys, we dally around the facades along the promenades...
In no hurry, we look for Cafe Turri', a regional international favorite among the "upper" class. Roads lined with fragrant roses frame the jangled rows of freighters below...
Apartments strewn with violet morning glory blooms and drooping ropes of clothes vie for the afternoon's vanishing light...
With beat feet and a seat at Cafe Turri we decide not to worry to see more of Valparaiso's treat filled streets. Instead...
We'd find pleasure in white wine...
And entrees so fine...
It would blow your mind.
We laughed and relived our continent crossing success and snapped a dozen shots from Valparaiso's famed heights as the ships set sail with the sinking sun...
With our senses filled by every possible perception, we walked the few romantic paces to Ascensor Concepcion. In moments we'd be below hailing a taxi to the terminal to travel back to our temporary home in Hotel Vegas...
Boarding the last bus back, we found space to spare. Instead of sharing a pairing of chairs we both declared front row window seats. It's amazing how a cool window can make the most comfortable pillow when you're exhausted from a day of vacation. While the ride to Santiago seemed like seconds, the few conscious minutes in a cab connecting terminal and hotel seemed like an eternity...
