Our first tour in Chile proper took us to Valparaiso, a coastal port that is a university town and home to Chile’s Bohemian art scene. Like California, Chile has a coast range and as Valparaiso harbor’s importance grew in this part of the word the city had to expand up the “45 hills” that dot the southern side of the bay. Some views down streets reminded us of San Francisco however instead of cable cars Valparaiso has funicular railways, which like cablecars in San Francisco are considered a national monument.
Our first stop in the city was La Sebastiana, one of the homes of Pablo Neruda, a (Nobel/Lenin) prize winning poet who was also a diplomat and politician. I admit I had never heard of him until today and I left his former home with some admiration for the dedication to his art and his country. Apparently he was tired of life in Santiago and asked friends to look for a place to live in Valparaiso. They found a house designed by an architect who died before completing it, he bought it with friends thinking it was too big. He designed and decorated the interior himself and apparently gave quite the party to inaugurate it. The views of Valparaiso’s hills and harbor are impressive and I can see how he would be inspired by the views. FYI La Sebastiana was one of the three houses Pablo Neruda had in Chile, he married three times and had three different houses each unique. Unfortunately photography is not allowed inside La Sebastiana so visit the linked web sites to have a look. We could take pics of the views though…
We spent the rest of the time walking (only two of ) the hills of Valparaiso stoping off in eclectic art stores and admiring the graffiti artwork that is everywhere in this city. This art is encouraged by the city and anyone can overwrite (or overart) an existing piece. Truly unique I will let the pictures below do the talking.
One interesting point our guide noted was there was a battle of the War of 1812 that occurred in Valparaiso , the USS Essex fought two British ships and lost. Did not know this one.
