South America- Day 25- Valparaiso

And we're on the move again-- time for a day trip to Valparaiso! This port city is known for its colorful houses and its steep hillsides. We caught a cab downtown and then the bus to Valparaiso, where we caught a local bus to get to the Plaza Sotomayor right across from the port. There's a beautiful blue building that belongs to the Chilean Armada on one end and a naval memorial in the middle of the square. We walked a few minutes past the Palacio de Justica and took the Ascensor Peral from 1902 (one of the five working funiculars) up to the top of Cerro Alegre. There are 37 hills in Valparaiso and while there are lots of funiculars, they are not very long but are more vertical and only a few still operate today. Once at the top of this hill, we walked along the Paseo Yugoslavo past the Palacio Baburizza which now houses the Bella Artes museum. We followed the frommers walking tour around a small plaza, through a few narrow passageways (which are all over the city), to another terrace that has the Casa Mirador de Lukas. Lukas was a Chilean cartoonist who is known both for his satire and his drawings of Valparaiso and there is a small museum dedicated to his work here.

We had a lovely long lunch at the well-known Café Turri, which has a terrace overlooking the city. Super relaxing and a lovely break from our running around! It kind of felt like the Amalfi Coast with its verticality and cafes, but on a much bigger and more industrial scale. Looking out over the huge cargo ships and military boats is not quite the same as the blue of the mediterranean.

Next we went to the Cemetery of Dissidents up on a different hill which is where the non-catholics were buried in the city. A nice cemetery but after seeing the one in Buenos, it's really hard to compete (that sounds really bizarre since they are cemeteries after all...) We went in search of a bookstore Brennan has heard about called Gato Tuerto but it sadly turned out not to be a bookstore anymore and instead had some artwork and crafts. Disappointing since we're still searching for a tote bag or tee from a bookstore down here for my pillow project!

Anyway, it was now a few minutes before 4:30 and we were most of the way up the hill to Pablo Neruda's house, La Sebastiana. Neither of us are huge poetry fans but the Chileans are very proud of him and he was referenced quite a bit on How I Met Your Mother, so we figured we should swing by if we had time;) it is one of his several residences and is perched well above the city with incredible views. He had really eclectic taste and it showed in the overall decoration of his house. On the stairway up to the second floor there's a recreation of a map in stonework as well as six maps on the second floor hallway. His living room and dining room are full of items like a carousel horse, two oil paintings that look victorian (one's a man and one's a woman and they are across the room from each other so they can look at each other), and a ceramic bull that he used as a punch bowl at parties. Really enjoyed the tour and a great end to our day trip.

Grabbed a cab back down the hills to the bus terminal-- what a crazy ride! We had walked everywhere with the hills, but being in a car was nuts with the twists and turns and sheer verticality of the neighborhoods. Bus ride home took a while due to traffic and we ended up getting off at a different stop and thankfully were able to find a cab which brought us back to our hotel. Last night in Chile!