14th Nov. 2016
We have been told that a number of government workers are again on strike today, so some of the attractions will be shut. Valparaiso is on the west coast of Chile and is a sprawling city built up over a number of smallish cerros or hills. A series of 15 ascensores or funiculars built between 1883 and 1916 rattle up and down some of these hills. However as they are public facilities they are all en paro today, so that means we climbed up and down more steps than our legs were happy with.
After the sorting out the essentials of laundry and bus tickets, we turn our attention to the cathedral which is quite a drab affair after many we have seen. There is, however, an enormous copper coloured statue in one of the main boulevards and we have no idea what it signifies or why it is there.
We then climb our first hill next to the closed Ascenor Polanco to catch a view of the city from the west. Walking by the track up the hillside, we wish it had been open as it would have been a fun experience riding up and also our legs would appreciate the rest. We can see the ups and downs we intend exploring today and try not to think just how far our intended route will be.
We try to pick the places that will be open, so head along the road in front of the port which covers the length of the sea front and walk east from the west end of the city. In hindsight, we should have caught the metro which we walked beside, as that would have saved our poor legs, but we realised this too late. Valparaiso is now on the cruise liner route and a small one is in dock so we stop briefly and watch the passengers climbing into minibuses to be shown the sights. We are much happier exploring alone and making it up as we go along!
The Plaza Sotomayor is an impressive affair with a huge memorial to the War of the Pacific with an eternal flame that burns for more than five minutes (see Tacna post on 23rd October). The side of the Plaza facing the sea is dominated by the blue Edificio de la Comandancia Naval building, although the green Starbucks sign also gets us excited!
It is now time to climb our second hill to Plaza 21 de Mayo to view the city from the East end, as the Ascensor Artilleria is closed. The city is impressive from a distance but close up it is quite grimy. This is not helped by the piles of rubbish strewn over the pavements, as it is not being collected regularly due to the aforementioned frequent strikes.
We can either return to our hotel which is on Cerro Conception by retracing our steps along part of the harbour front or by heading in a straight line which takes us up and down a few hills. Of course, we opt for the hills as we want to visit Palacio Baburizza on the adjacent hill, overlooking the city. So it is back to Plaza Sotomayor and up the steps next to El Peral Ascensor (on strike). Palacio Baburizza is an impressive building, now a museum – not on strike, but still closed as today is Monday.
From here we can see the mirador that is near our hotel. The problem is that our hotel is on the next hill which can only be reached by descending about a hundred steps and then back up again! At least there are no shut ascensors, so we would have had to walk anyway. We are liking Valparaiso and its quirkiness, never knowing what will be around the next corner. It is such a shame that the dogs have spread the contents of the uncollected rubbish sacks all over the pavements in places making it difficult to walk by whilst holding your nose to avoid the stench!
Today is the ‘supermoon’ that everyone is talking about and we have already read that most of the UK was under cloud so not a good view. We are therefore very fortunate to have clear skies and scenery to do the spectacle justice. The mirador near our hotel was full of tourists and locals also enjoying the sight.