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Back Home in California
Valparaiso Chile: Sailing vessel in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Boats in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Sculpture in the lobby of the Art Museum.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument erected in front of the Courthouse behind the
Chilean Navy Office building.
Valparaiso Chile: Old buildings in the central part of town.
Valparaiso Chile: A Lonely Planet writer reported packs of dogs like these
are unfriendly to strangers. I saw many similar groups of dogs roaming the
city, but none ever caused any trouble.
Valparaiso Chile: Old buildings in the central part of town.
Valparaiso Chile: A small shopping mall near the center of town.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on a backyard wading pool from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down one of the very steep streets climbing up
into the surrounding hillside neighborhoods.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Sculpture made of copper in a small park near the
government office buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Colorful paint job on this old house downtown.
Valparaiso Chile: Old buildings in the central part of town.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot. The
flame is fueled by dripping candles above it.
Valparaiso Chile: Sign pointing the way to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's
hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: Entrance to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: Entrance to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: Sign at the entrance to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's
hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: No photography allowed inside the Pablo Neruda House; now
they tell me. This is a portion of a mosaic on one of the walls inside the
house.
Vina del Mar Chile: This is my $80 Hotel Cap Ducal hanging over the sea. The
interior is decorated like a ship and the exterior gives the appearance of a
ship.
Valparaiso Chile: No surprise to find this graffiti. GW Bush is not much
admired in this part of the world by ordinary people.
Vina del Mar Chile: The entrance to my $80 Hotel Cap Ducal hanging over the
sea.
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  26-29
December 2005
Hello from
Valparaiso Chile
Monday the Santiago Park Plaza hotel rates went back up the the regular $210 and I
decided to head over to the beaches and historical
Valparaiso
a couple hours to the west. With its array of funky funiculars and busy
shipping harbor, it deserves its reputation as an old colonial city
bypassed by modern times. The day I sampled one of the Funiculars also
provided a reason to visit the Valparaiso home of Chile's most famous
poet,
Pablo Neruda.
Every school child here knows the name as well as every American kid
recognizes our Walt Whitman.
The days I spent wandering the village center were
bombarded with rock music and street dance performances, to mention only a
few of the dozen events being presented by the city in its annual Arts
Festival. As hotel possibilities didn't look too promising in the city
itself, I took the Merval (the metro train) over to nearby
Vina del Mar
where the pickings were better. My first hotel turned out by luck to be
the $120 Cap Ducal,
down to $80 with bargaining. Designed like a ship with mahogany paneled
hallways and brass fittings, it hangs over the surf adding to the nautical
effect. It appears to be a favorite with couples looking for a romantic
interlude.
People come to this beach town to get away from the city. There is a large
Las Vegas style casino and numerous very expensive five star hotels for
those willing to splurge. Two I checked offered rooms in the $250 to $350
range. I did what I usually do in a new place: walk and look. Enterprising
guys will wash your car when parallel parked along the streets near the
pedestrian mall. In California style supermarkets people steal and eat
food with impunity. I saw a mother with four kids all eating cups of
yogurt and later saw two of them surreptitiously set the empty cups on a
display shelf. The numerous uniformed security personnel spying among
the isles had no effect what so ever as far as I could tell. I thought I
must be back in western China when on several occasions young men gave me
their seats on buses; no fanfare, they just stood up and motioned for me
to sit down. Buses and metro cars are among the few places where smokers
refrain from polluting the air.
In
one of the large modern shopping malls the hostess who seated me in a
better restaurant delighted in showing off her very good English. "How
much does a waitress make here?" I asked. "...about 3,000 pesos for an
eleven hour shift." she replied. A quick calculation prompted me to
confirm her numbers. Yes, these kids are paid about $6 for working 11
hours or about fifty cents and hour... plus tips. "Do they receive many
tips?" I asked. "Some of the foreign tourists tip pretty well... the
Americans and Europeans are best... the Argentineans and Brazilians the
worst." she noted. "How about someone with a better job like yours?" I
inquired. "Well; I make more than the average... I've been working here
for three years... Let's see, I make about $15 for each 5 hour shift...
other hostesses make about $10." she added. Given the high prices for
everything and all the eager buyers roaming the shopping malls, some
people must make a lot more than that. Then I remembered that in this part
of the world there is a shameful disparity between the richest and poorest
segments of society. People, including small children openly demonstrate
physical affection in public; young lovers kiss passionately, older kids
hug their younger siblings, many of both sexes walk the sidewalks hand in
hand. During one exploration I discovered the $75 Hotel Marina del Rey,
a Best Western hotel and moved there to be closer to the central bus
terminal for my return trip to Santiago the next day.
Peace
Fred L Bellomy
Valparaiso Chile: Sailing vessel in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Boats in the busy harbor.
Vina del Mar Chile: View from my $80 Hotel Cap Ducal hanging over the sea.
The prominent building in the photo is the Casino Vina del Mar with rooms
for $210.
Valparaiso Chile: Boats in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument honoring the heroics of the Chilean military
erected in the square in front of the Chilean Navy Office.
Valparaiso Chile: Chilean Navy Office prepares to host a rock concert. The
equipment testing suggested a very noisy evening would follow.
Valparaiso Chile: The jolly green giants which take people up the steep
hills to their homes in the crowded neighborhoods above. The forty cent fare
is much less than buses on the flat routes.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down one of the very steep streets climbing up
into the surrounding hillside neighborhoods. Careful lady; one false step
and you could roll all the way down to the bottom!
Valparaiso Chile: Bright paint job on this old house downtown.
Valparaiso Chile: Chess players in the plaza near the government office
buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Old buildings in the central part of town.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot.
Valparaiso Chile: An exterior view of Pablo Neruda's hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from inside the Pablo
Neruda House.
Vina del Mar Chile: This is my $80 Hotel Cap Ducal hanging over the sea. The
interior is decorated like a ship and the views of the sea from the large
windows in the room are marvelous.
Vina del Mar Chile: View from the dining room at my $80 Hotel Cap Ducal
hanging over the sea. The interior is decorated like a ship and the exterior
gives the appearance of a ship.
Vina del Mar Chile: Another view from the dining room at my $80 Hotel Cap
Ducal hanging over the sea. The interior is decorated like a ship and the
exterior gives the appearance of a ship.
Vina del Mar Chile: Another view from the dining room at my $80 Hotel Cap
Ducal hanging over the sea. The interior is decorated like a ship and the
exterior gives the appearance of a ship.
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Valparaiso Chile: Sailing vessel in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Sailing vessel in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Boats in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Boats in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Boats in the busy harbor.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument honoring the heroics of the Chilean military
erected in the square in front of the Chilean Navy Office.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument honoring the heroics of the Chilean military
erected in the square in front of the Chilean Navy Office.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument honoring the heroics of the Chilean military
erected in the square in front of the Chilean Navy Office.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument honoring the heroics of the Chilean military
erected in the square in front of the Chilean Navy Office.
Valparaiso Chile: Typical hillside houses surrounding the flatter city
center.
Valparaiso Chile: A small shopping mall near the center of town.
Valparaiso Chile: A small shopping mall near the center of town.
Valparaiso Chile: Old buildings in the central part of town.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides; harbor in the background.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from streets in the
surrounding hillsides.
Valparaiso Chile: Monument in the plaza near the government office
buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Card players in the plaza near the government office
buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Chess players in the plaza near the government office
buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Tuesday swap meet near the government office buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Tuesday swap meet near the government office buildings.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot. The
flame is fueled by dripping candles above it.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars I discovered this wall
attesting to many miracles attributed to someone who died on this spot.
Valparaiso Chile: Near one of the Funiculars these steep stairs explain why
the Ascensors were build between 1883 and 1916.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking up the tracks of one of the still working
Funiculars.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down the tracks of one of the still working
Funiculars.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking down on the sprawling city from inside the Pablo
Neruda House.
Valparaiso Chile: Looking up at Pablo Neruda's hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: Plaque near the entrance to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's
hillside home.
Valparaiso Chile: An interesting mural treatment of an exterior flight of
stairs.
Vina del Mar Chile: View from the dining room at my $80 Hotel Cap Ducal
hanging over the sea. The interior is decorated like a ship and the exterior
gives the appearance of a ship.
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