This post’s rather strange name is the result of our flights from and back to Port of Spain [via Panama] being to and from Santiago. It seemed more logical [well, to me at least] to describe all our time in that city in one blog. For good measure I have also included Valparaiso because it is the port city for Santiago and is in the same region of “Middle Chile”.

We spent a total of six nights in Santiago and three in Valparaíso and, having made the best use of our time, saw all that we wanted to see.

We flew to Santiago on 10^th September and, after viewing the Andes from the air….

…. we were not surprised to see quite a bit of snow – and snow melt – when we arrived.

However, spring had certainly sprung in this part of Chile…

…. so by the time we returned to Santiago just over six weeks later only a few of the highest peaks still had their winter cover.

We were quite surprised at how compact the centre of Santiago felt – or at least the proximity to each other of the parts we wanted to visit. In effect, as is hinted at in the photo above, the city is a vast metropolis, but the main attractions are around the centre – all very walkable. When we wanted to use public transport – e.g. to get to and from the main bus station – there were lots of buses and a very good metro system. To access these we had to buy a “bip” card which cost the princely sum of Chilean$1,500 [£1.38] with journeys costing C$640 [59p] for the bus and C$610-720 [56-66p] for the metro.

The oldest part of the city is its wedge-shaped centre. Modern high-rises sit alongside C19 buildings – a feature which is reflected throughout Santiago….

…..and indoor and outdoor paseos and plazas abound.

It is also the centre of civic life with the “Plaza de Armas” at its heart.

Santiago was founded in 1541 and at that time its centrepiece was a gallows. That has now been replaced by a fountain statue commemorating “liberatador” Simón Bolivar.

Although less easy to immediately understand, we actually preferred the statue at the SW corner of the square.

Running along the northern edge of the centre, and separating the “Barrio” of Bellavista from those of Lastarria and Belles Artes is the Rio Mapocho. Crossing this are numerous bridges and we used three of them, a footbridge in the middle and two road bridges….

…..one at either end of the Parque Forestal which also has the “Museo de Bellas Artes” at its western edge….

…. and which was really pleasant to stroll through when passing from one Barrio to another.

What we weren’t expecting to see when we wandered into “Barrio Bellavista” was this…

… though we did intend to visit this ….

“La Chascona” is one of three villas now owned by the “Fundación Pablo Neruda” and once lived in by the famous Chilean poet and diplomat of that name. [Well, obviously, his first name was not Fundación!!].

His first villa was “La Sebastiana” in Valparaíso, which we also visited.

Not being allowed to take photographs inside, that is my only photo of La Sebastiana but I did cheat a bit and take a shot from outside of La Chascona looking in….

…. and there were much more picturesque outside areas too.

He loved water and the sea and the bar area is supposed to replicate one on a ship. He apparently sourced the pewter bar from an old boat. Ships figureheads and maps featured strongly in both the houses.

La Sebastiana he lived in with his second wife and La Chascona with his mistress – who later became his third wife. We didn’t make it to “Villa de Isla Negra”, his third, and supposedly favourite, home but we can only assume they were of similar eclectic style containing lots of artworks produced by his many friends who he loved to entertain. Reputedly, he was always giving dinner parties and, being a bit of a joker, appeared to his guests through secret passages. In La Chascona, he popped out of what looked like half of a crockery cupboard – in the other half of which he kept coloured goblets and porcelain place settings and serving bowls etc, including a salt and pepper pot with “Marihuana” and “Morphine” inscribed on them.

A strong Socialist and supporter of President Allende, his hopes for Chile died following the Pinochet military coup and he, himself, died days later from prostate cancer. His tomb is overlooking the sea he loved, on the cliffs at Isla Negra.

My birthday fell in the middle of our second stay in Santiago and we took advantage of the bip card to travel out to the Maipo Valley – to Viña Aquitania, a “boutique” winery which produces small quantities of high quality wines.

The owners are French – hence the name -and they have brought all the best traditions and methods of wine production to their small estate.

Their main grape is Cabernet Sauvignon – which you see here, along with Shiraz….

… and further to the south, where it is cooler, they also cultivate Carménère and Chardonnay vines.

Mike was most interested in the red wine press…

…. where the red grapes and skin are crushed. Their white wine press was stainless steel and used a different technique whereby an inner rubber balloon is inflated to squeeze out the juice.

Their rosé is also made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes but left only a few hours rather than a few days with the skins to macerate.  Neither Mike nor I are particular fans of rosé but this one was so good that we actually bought a bottle!

There are two hills in central Santiago and our apartment was a stone’s throw from the smaller one – “Cerro Santa Lucia”.

At the south western corner there is what is described in the “Lonely Planet” as the “Centro de Exposición de Arte Indigena” and, on arrival at the park entrance, we were persuaded to go and see it. We had assumed that it would be art work and pottery, basketwork and the like – which, indeed it was – only it was of the “tat” variety for sale, not as an exhibition. We didn’t purchase!

The paths wind up through the park from the starting point – “Neptune’s Terrace”…

…. via the “Torre Mirador”…

…and terminate at an unnamed higher viewpoint. Other than high-rises as far as the eye could see in all directions and the Andes to the east, there wasn’t really much else to look at. I was, however, taken by the roof – or should I say roofs – of the National Library of Chile. Such a variety of shape and colour.

“Cerro San Cristóbal” offers similar vistas…..

…. though, whilst it was very sunny on the day we went up, the Andes had disappeared from view because of the smog.

Topping the hill is the 14m high statue of the “Virgen de la Immaculada Concepción”…

…. and at its feet, the outdoor church [seen also in the photo above] where, in 1984 Pope John Paul II said Mass.

Below the outdoor church, another church built between 1921 and 1931, sits in the Plaza Vasca…..

… and a little futher down and on opposite sides of the hill are the stations for the telefèrico and the funicular which are used to get to the summit – unless you want a long and hot climb up the winding road. We took the funicular both up and down……

…. which brings us rather neatly to Valparaíso – a city known for its “Ascensors” [which seems to be what they call the Funiculars in this city].

As you can see from the last photograph, a number of the ascensors are now defunct. It is to be hoped that they keep the remaining ones working because Valparaiso is a town of hills -big hills – as we found when accessing sights where there were no, or non-working, ascensors and we had to resort to the “escaleras” [stairways] or the very steep winding streets.

Fortunately, along these streets can be found something else Valparaíso is famous for – murals….

…. so there were plenty of excuses to stop, rest and take a photo.

As I said at the start of this blog, Valparaíso is Santiago’s port. It started off with a small fishing community of the indigenous “Chango” and then became a stop off point for the “Conquistadores” taking gold to Spain with English and Dutch pirates [including Drake] regularly looting the city. The port boomed when there was high demand for Chilean wheat export and then became a major port for ships rounding Cape Horn. Things went downhill in C20. There was a devastating earthquake in 1906 and then the Panama Canal opened – negating the need to round the Horn. Only the Chilean Navy remained….

…..though more recent fruit export and the arrival of large cruise ships to the port have regenerated it somewhat.

Having said that we found Santiago surprisingly compact, I think we were both quite surprised at how big Valparaíso was – possibly because the things we wanted to see were at all points around the city. At first we walked, but then found cheap and cheerful local buses and the trolleybus.

I was actually really disappointed by the trolleybus. The Lonely Planet’s description was as follows:- “The city’s most famous [bus] line is the 802 which uses the oldest working trolleybuses in the world. The curvy cars date back to 1947 and have been declared a national monument”. Well, I’m not sure what they have done with those “monuments” but they certainly don’t run any more – and neither does line 802. We know – we spent a good hour searching for it. Whilst the terminus at one end still exists [and is where the 801 goes], the terminus at the other end is a car park.

However, having walked all that way to find, or not, the trolleybus, we decided to take a look at the promenade at the north end of the city where people were picnicking and watching the sealife…..

We also walked to the end of the pier – “Muelle Barón”……

….. which afforded probably the best view of the city….

…. though we did get a fairly good one when we climbed “Cerro Bellavista” to see the aforementioned La Sebastiana.

We also climbed “Cerro Carcel” to visit the “Parque Cultural de Valparaiso”. It is described as having “rotating art exhibits, live theatre and dance and occasional classes, courses, round table and other stimulating events”.

There were tables in the closed off rooms which have been converted from the cells – yes, this was a prison….

…. but the only artwork was the faded murals on the wall of the old exercise yard…..

….. and in the small garden…..

We did learn a bit about its history and use from a large plaque inside.

For more culture, we went to the “Museo de Bellas Artes”, housed in the “Palacio Baburizza”,,,,

For whatever reason I liked the two following works.

Giovanni Mochi was an Italian painter who spent 16 years as a Professor in Santiago and reportedly influenced many artists who became Chilean Masters.

Daniel Zuloasa was an innovator of Art Pottery in Spain. Many of his works are found adorning large buildings such as the “Palacio de Velázquez.

What was equally interesting was the interior….

…. and furniture….

Out and about on the streets we also came across a couple of antiquities of a different sort.

To take a break from climbing hills we took the train to Viña del Mar – the “Cuidad Jardin”, 5km to the NE. As one of the weekend or holiday resorts which are found along the coast north of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar has beaches, wide avenues and parks. It also has “entertainers”.

On its seafront is “Castillo Wulff”…

… an historic building built in the early C20 and which, when open, houses an art exhibition.

In the centre of the city, just past the “Palacio Carrasco”….

….. is “Museo de Archueología e Historia Francisco Fonck”.

As well as respite from climbing hills, I had wanted to come here to visit this museum specifically because of its exhibits from Rapa Nui [Easter Island]. As a young girl my dad bought me a book about wonders of the world. Its possibly what led to my wanderlust and I remember reading over and over again the chapter about the Easter Island statues. I did look into visiting Easter Island as part of this trip but the time of year we were here was not the best for ensuring easy access to the island. There was a suggestion that flights were often cancelled and that even if you got there you might get stuck. Given all the other places we wanted to visit I decided that it was too risky so put this museum high on my list of “Must Do”.

Between 1000 and 1650 AD “ahu” [huge platforms] were built using enormous rocks to form the rectangular perimeter to the altar which was then filled with smaller rocks. A “Moai” was erected on each alter with eyes made of white coral and pupils of obsidian or red “scoria” [basaltic rock, a kind of pumice]. The Moai’s construction began with the carving of the nose, and then the rest of the face – except the eye sockets. The sides were then completed before the rock was cut away and transported to an excavated hole where it could stand while the back was done. It was then taken to its altar where the eyes were carved and completed. At this time the “mana” [ancestor] emerged through the eyes to protect the people and their land.

As you can see from these wooden carvings….

…..they had male [tangata] and female [vie] moai and they also created small replicas of the stone statues.

The tradition of having Moai “protectors” continued into more modern times, The wooden cutlass, in the photograph below, has a shark tooth shaped blade, a “Kava Kava” Moai handle and the head of the “Manutara”[the sacred bird of Rapa Nui] as a pommel.

Back in Valparaíso we walked past what is, apparently, one of the most famous sights – the “iconic “Reloj Turri” which dates back to the 1920’s. It is where the “Edificio Turri” narrows to the width of its clock tower.

Not sure we were that impressed! As buildings go, we much preferred the market….

…. but I guess we would – even though it didn’t contain the promised seafood stands!

Talking of food, which most of my blog posts do, Santiago and Valparaíso provided us with some tastes of Chile. One experience at a restaurant chosen by us because it sounded a bit different – it served dishes based on food eaten by the indigenous  people – wasn’t quite the gastronomic delight we had hoped. Other classics proved more enjoyable….

We found a great little café….

….and a very traditional bar…..

…. although the more modern Cervecerias served better beer…..

…. but our favourite drink [other than wine] has to be the Pisco Sour.

There is definitely a debate about whether Pisco originated in Chile or in Peru.

The statement at the bottom of the table mat says “Our grape – Pride of the Republic” and the map shows both Lima [which is just north of the town of Pisco in Peru] and the Elqui Valley where Pisco is made in Chile.

Maybe I can shed some more light on the issue in my next blog because, as it happens, from Santiago/Valparaíso we went to Elqui.

See you there!