Valparaiso

In my introductory post to this blog, where I listed some of the things we hoped to do on our trip, I mentioned that we would ascend the slopes of Valparaiso in a funicular. Today was the day that we did that.

Valparaiso is the port city where the ship docked, about 2 hours away from Santiago, our departure point for this trip (which comes tomorrow). Valparaiso has often been compared to San Francisco, with its many hills, Victorian architecture, and Fisherman's Wharf. There are 45 hills in Valparaiso, each one with a different name. Valparaiso's upper area is called Los Cerros - the hills. The funiculars were built as a means of transportation from the lower levels of the city to the neighborhoods located up in the hills. (In Pittsburgh, we call this an incline instead of a funicular, but the function is the same.)  

Our tour guide for today was Ines. 

Ines

Our itinerary began with a bus drive to Sotomayor Square, which is in the downtown area with some typical government buildings. There is a national monument to the heroes of the Pacific War, which involved Peru and Ecuador on one side with Chile on the other side. The war was fought over access to the rich mineral deposits located in the Atacama Desert. Chile was victorious in the war. The Navy Headquarters Building is also located on one side of Sotomayor Square.

Hero Monument

Navy Headquarters Building

We got off the bus in Sotomayor Square and took a short walk to the funicular. Only 10 people could fit in a funicular car at a time, so our group of 40 had to take turns. We ascended the hill known as Pleasant Hill. The reason that this hill has an English name is that this area of Valparaiso was settled by the British.

When we arrived at the top of the hill, there was an overlook along the Yugoslavian Promenade with beautiful views of the city below. 

Yugoslavian Promenade

After taking photos, we entered a nearby fine arts museum, the Baburizza Palace. It had a great collection of artwork by European and Chilean artists. Many of the paintings were beautiful artists' renderings of the city of Valparaiso and its surroundings.

Baburizza Palace

After leaving the art museum, we descended Pleasant Hill in the funicular. From there we rode in the bus along a coastal road with many views of the beach. There are three beaches in Valparaiso. Unfortunately, the water temperature is 48 degrees due to the cold Humboldt Current which comes up from Antarctica, and according to Ines, the ocean here is rough with large waves, so not really good for swimming. The rough ocean, combined with potential for earthquakes in the area, could be an explanation for the signs I saw on many roads which said "Tsunami Evacuation Route."

In giving us a little history of the area, Ines told us that there was a very big earthquake in 1906 (just like in San Francisco). Valparaiso is located along a fault line. When the 1906 quake occurred here, there was a series of three quakes in very short succession, with the quakes being rather large. The Richter numbers were 7.4, 7.2, and 7.0, all happening within 30 or 45 minutes. 

Along the coastal drive, we stopped to view a famous flower clock, which actually keeps very accurate time. The flowers are changed every three months to match the current season, and are always very colorful, according to Ines. 

Along the coastal road, we passed some castles, which are really just very large houses. There were some very beautiful gardens and Valparaiso is sometimes called The Garden City because of the many gardens.

We continued our drive along the coastal road with nice views along the way.

From the coastal road, we drove into an area called Vina del Mar, which means Vineyard by the Sea. Apparently a local farmer once held a large plot of land here. His farm was named The Seven Sisters because seven hills surrounded it. He tried to start a vineyard on his farm, planning to sell wine, but the vines would not grow in this combination of soil and climate. So he broke up the land into smaller blocks, and sold them to people from Valparaiso, who then built wealthy resort homes. It is a very popular area where people from Valparaiso, Santiago, and other parts of Chile come for weekends or vacations. 

Our last stop of the day was at the Fonck Museum, a former mansion featuring archaeological artifacts and historical items from the Chilean mainland and Easter Island. The museum told the story of the Rapa Nui people. Easter Island now goes by the name of Rapa Nui to honor that native indigenous culture. The most prominent display of the Fonck Museum was the familiar Moai figure located outside. This Moai was brought here in 1951 as part of an exhibition. The Rapa Nui people want all the Moais located around the world to be returned to their island. However, the one located here will likely be here for a long time, as Ines told us about how difficult it is to move due to its size and weight. It would take cranes, would have to be shipped, and would be very costly. The only Moais outside of Rapa Nui at this time is this one and the ones at the British Museum in London.

Moai

In addition to the Rapa Nui displays, there were displays on the pre-European cultures of Chile, especially the Patagonia area. The most prominent of these was the displays on the Mapuche people of Central Chile. Mapuche means people of the land. The museum also contained information about the Yaganes which we learned about earlier in the trip in Tierra del Fuego. 

After the Fonck Museum, we rode back to the ship along the same coastal road, with a few more nice views.

And this brings us to the end of our trip. We'll be leaving for the long journey home tomorrow, arriving on Sunday. Prayers for safety are appreciated.

Thanks for reading the blog. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. And remember: "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."

Have a very blessed and Merry Christmas!