To The Ocean January 9th

Up modestly early as our small (14 person) tour bus collected us first before making six additional hotel stops to fill all the seats. We headed out of town (no small feat given many traffic lights have been vandalized by protesters and now a young civilian corps has taken on the role of directing traffic – with a fair degree of success). Our goal is the coastal city of Valparaiso 127 km west of Santiago.

Our guide, Francisca, spoke perfect English which was the language of choice given her eclectic audience (5 Canadians, 3 Taiwanese, 2 Hong Kong, 1 Italy, 1 Russian, 2 Americans). The toll highway utilizes two long tunnels to cross the mountains that form the western boundary of the Central Valley and Francisca provided a myriad of information about Chile, past and present.

A large section of Valparaiso is protected by a UN Heritage designation meaning old buildings that still reflect the architecture of the 18th and 19th century immigrants from various European countries. The community has attracted an artists following and a favourite means of expression is painting the sides of buildings. Some was exceptional, some merely graffiti.

The city is built on 42 hills surrounding the port. We used a short funicular to get partway back down then went for a quick walk on the beach and a tour of the local fish market.

Back onto the bus and on to the town of Vina del Mar which is adjacent to Valparaiso. In the 19th century this was the summer home for wealthy residents of the country and many old mansions and castles exist today. Two tourist stops in town are a must; the floral clock and a Moai statue from Easter Island. This is one of three original statues not on the island (Washington and British museum).

After a late lunch we headed east to the Casablanca Valley where the environment creates perfect growing conditions for grapes used in white wine production. Yes, yet another tasting! The Veramonte winery has a magnificent facility. The wines, not so much.

It was a quiet ride back to Santiago where we arrived, unfortunately, at the height of rush hour. It took ages to return all the passengers to their respective hotels and as we were last, it was early evening when we got ‘home’.