15th Nov. 2016
There’s no avoiding it. We are going to have to go and explore at least some of the 41 hills that comprise Valparaíso. No visit here would be complete without doing so – particularly as some of the most famous sights and monuments are up on top of one or other hill. Yesterday was a 25,000 step day but – despite Janet’s protestations to the contrary – it was mostly on El Plan, the flat area in front of the coast.
Our challenge gets tougher when we get to the first ascensor. It is all locked up and it looks like the strike is continuing on today. As we look out from the top of the ascensor, we can see our initial destination – a cemetery, of course. It isn’t far away and its on the same level as us. The only problem is that it is on top of the neighbouring hill and we’re going to have to use the stairs to get between the two.
At the bottom of the winding, stepped pathway (you’re never quite sure on which street you are going to reappear) we get another reminder that it isn’t just the lift operators that are on strike. So too are the rubbish collectors and there are mounds of refuse dotted about the streets. Valparaíso would be a much more pleasant experience without these eye/nose-sores. Still, there is always some piece of street art to distract us.
There are actually two cemeteries in Valparaíso, one for Catholics and one for everyone else, They are side-by-side – so, a bigger target to aim at, but as so often here, it is not actually obvious as to where the entrance is! We find the (an??) entrance to the ‘Dissidents’ cemetery and head in. Like so much here, its a bit shabby and would be so much better if only it was spruced up a bit. Perhaps we have been spoiled by the desert cemeteries or those in Mexico. At least there are some Weeping Angels here watching over everything (must not look away!).
As we are now at the top of the hill, we have limited (no) enthusiasm for going down the hill to the Catholics cemetery (particularly as we don’t know where the entrance is). What we do know is that if we walk down we are going to have to walk back up again. We’re heading further inland (and therefore uphill). The intention is to walk through the Museo del Cielo Abierto (museum of the open sky) – a section of the city that has walls covered in street art. However a) this description applies to the entire city so far as we can see; and b) we arrive at the top and so to see the ‘exhibits’ we’d have to walk down and back up again.
Instead, our objective is La Sebastiana – Pablo Neruda’s house in Valparaíso. If you aren’t sure who Pablo Neruda is, don’t worry as we hadn’t heard of him either before getting to Santiago four years ago. He is Chile’s other Nobel Prize winning poet (along with Gabriela Mistral – see Vicuña posts). Whilst my Spanish is nowhere near good enough to be able to assess his poetry, as I understand it, he was an adulterous, multiple-home owning communist – so a bit of a hypocrite in my book. Anyway, he is muy famoso in Chile.
His house is rather fab – though Janet tells me that I am not to get any ideas for our next house! It is set high on of one of the hills with views out over the harbour (renowned for views of the firework display on New Year’s Eve). Built in the late 1940s, but bought by Neruda in 1961, it ranges over five floors and is even more quirky on the inside than outside. There are artworks on ceilings as well as on the walls – murals and hanging paintings – and the audio guide gives us a little story about each of them. Neruda enjoyed watching ships and so there are portholes and stained glass windows dotted around the house. He even designed his own fireplace for the sitting room (on the 3rd floor) that I thought was a particularly good design.
Whilst we just about beat the rush at La Sebastiana we didn’t in the nearby restaurant and so, over a leisurely lunch we were able to plan the afternoon. Having slogged our way up the hills, we are reluctant to give up that hard won height and so decide to head back toward our hotel along the road that runs along the top. As this takes in a couple of the recommended miradors then this seems an easy decision. From on high, you do get a different perspective of the city – both of the tiers of coloured houses that Valparaíso is famous for and of the activity in the harbour down below.
And so, in two days of walking – and no thanks to the striking workers – we have covered most of the key attractions in the city itself. If we had more time, we would probably take a trip up to neighbouring Viña del Mar or inland to Casablanca – but we don’t have more time and we’re happy with what we have done. Valparaíso is a tourist city but, unlike San Pedro de Atacama, it has not lost its soul and it is clearly a working town for the locals. We just wish that a few more of them were working right now and that the city had a bit of a cleanup.