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FARFRUMWURKEN
We woke up to glorious sunshine today and 27C temperatures. It's really a nice break since we’ve had mostly cloudy skies for the last few days. Valparaiso was a non-tour stop for us so we hooked up with two other couples and did a "Tour 4 Tips" walk around of the city. It turned out to be great; Felipe was very informative and high energy, which made the street tour all that much better.
Nice place Valparaiso. There are of course the dangerous areas and it’s quite hilly throughout the entire city. They currently have nine funicular trains that take people from the lower part of the city, up to the other higher levels, and we had the opportunity to get a ride – a total of ten people per trip on a double tracked system.
I’d compare Valparaiso to San Francisco, It seems every time you come around a corner your either going up or down – there are very little level spots. They also have more than their share of “street dogs” – they’re everywhere. We had three of them walk with us for about an hour, they stayed down below either because they didn’t have the money for the funicular or they have a “no dog” policy.
The other thing that sets Valparaiso apart is their overall commitment to “street art”. It’s on every building just about. While the art of graffiti is illegal in Valparaiso, it becomes legal when property owners engage these artists to paint over the “tags” painted by the non-professionals. They actually arrange to have professional graffiti artists come in and do their wall, their garage, the side of their house or the entire street. It’s very creative. To the point that even large 25 storey buildings now engage these same professionals to do the sides of the large buildings. There is an artistic beauty to these paintings – some are humorous, some are serious, some are fanciful.
It’s really the city since Cabo San Lucas in Mexico that we’ve actually enjoyed walking around, even thought you had to be somewhat of a mountain goat to maneuver the streets. A lot of the funiculars have broken down over time and are not working which causes the locals to climb steps – steps that range from 165 to well over 350 steps in sections and they are all straight up.
The dock where we pulled in was a little crazy. We had to take a shuttle about 2 miles to the customs area, only to walk those same 2 miles or 45 minutes back to about same spot but just on the other side of the port fence. To save the long walk back to the port, Deb and I grabbed one of their local trolleys and rode with locals for 400 Chilean Pesos (approximately $0.75 cents) back to the port area so all was well.
We’re heading to probably the most interesting part of the adventure over these next few days – we have a sea day tomorrow but then it’s Puerto Montt, then on to Puerto Chacabucco and then Punta Arenas where we hope to see some penguins. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate to allow us to see the magnificent fiords along the way. The captain has advised us that tomorrow night will be little hairy. We’re apparently heading into a high-pressure area, which will cause waves of 7 meters or about 22 feet high. He has warned the ladies to wear suitable shoes. We’ll update on the rock & roll as soon as week can.
Nice place Valparaiso. There are of course the dangerous areas and it’s quite hilly throughout the entire city. They currently have nine funicular trains that take people from the lower part of the city, up to the other higher levels, and we had the opportunity to get a ride – a total of ten people per trip on a double tracked system.
I’d compare Valparaiso to San Francisco, It seems every time you come around a corner your either going up or down – there are very little level spots. They also have more than their share of “street dogs” – they’re everywhere. We had three of them walk with us for about an hour, they stayed down below either because they didn’t have the money for the funicular or they have a “no dog” policy.
The other thing that sets Valparaiso apart is their overall commitment to “street art”. It’s on every building just about. While the art of graffiti is illegal in Valparaiso, it becomes legal when property owners engage these artists to paint over the “tags” painted by the non-professionals. They actually arrange to have professional graffiti artists come in and do their wall, their garage, the side of their house or the entire street. It’s very creative. To the point that even large 25 storey buildings now engage these same professionals to do the sides of the large buildings. There is an artistic beauty to these paintings – some are humorous, some are serious, some are fanciful.
It’s really the city since Cabo San Lucas in Mexico that we’ve actually enjoyed walking around, even thought you had to be somewhat of a mountain goat to maneuver the streets. A lot of the funiculars have broken down over time and are not working which causes the locals to climb steps – steps that range from 165 to well over 350 steps in sections and they are all straight up.
The dock where we pulled in was a little crazy. We had to take a shuttle about 2 miles to the customs area, only to walk those same 2 miles or 45 minutes back to about same spot but just on the other side of the port fence. To save the long walk back to the port, Deb and I grabbed one of their local trolleys and rode with locals for 400 Chilean Pesos (approximately $0.75 cents) back to the port area so all was well.
We’re heading to probably the most interesting part of the adventure over these next few days – we have a sea day tomorrow but then it’s Puerto Montt, then on to Puerto Chacabucco and then Punta Arenas where we hope to see some penguins. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate to allow us to see the magnificent fiords along the way. The captain has advised us that tomorrow night will be little hairy. We’re apparently heading into a high-pressure area, which will cause waves of 7 meters or about 22 feet high. He has warned the ladies to wear suitable shoes. We’ll update on the rock & roll as soon as week can.
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