Today we are going into town for a free walking tour. We love the name of the company “Tours 4 Tips.” Excellent way to tell participants that while it is free to join, the guides really do only work for tips. Smart!
Luka is the breakfast chef today, Ed goes with his standard – fried eggs, but I just ask for banana and apple – I’m not that hungry. And even still, I get a feast – I swear Luka gave me 2 or 3 bananas, sliced and arranged beautifully and a whole apple. Goodness! I still can’t finish everything. Oh, and the freshly blended mango peach juice. Forgot about that. Sigh…well…we’ll be well fortified for our walking tour!
We leave early and walk down the hill to see if the internet cafe is open. We need to print our our cruise pass since we’ve changed rooms, but the cafe isn’t open yet – so today we hop the 602 bus which is a little more direct than the 505. I have a brain fade and try to give the driver 8000 pesos instead of 800. He patiently explains in Spanish that I’m an idiot (just kidding – but he did explain it was 800 not 8000), and takes a 1000 peso bill and gives me change. Wake up Cathy!
In town, we hop out at Plaza Soltomayor which is where our tour begins, but also where I had found an internet cafe online. We find the cafe, but it’s not what we want. Just a cafe with wifi – and after a great pantomime and Spanglesh conversation with the waitress, we go over to the square and hang out on the bleachers (without our print out – because I can’t remember how to say “print” in Spanish) to wait for our tour.
The tour guides arrive in their red striped shirts – very easy to find – and we move across the square to introduce ourselves. After about 15 minutes, there is quite a crowd. We get split into two groups and head off with Ignatius, our tour guide, who is a born and raised local Valparaisian. Great!
Ignatius guides us through the town – explaining the history of the city, teaching us a few Spanish words and explaining the murals and wall signings all over the city. We start in Plaza Sotomayor – where Ignatius explains are some government buildings and is the largest square in Valpo – but not necessarily the “main square.” Here in Valpo there are a few squares around, but none are designated as the main square – like every other town that has a “plaza armas.” I can’t remember why – something to do with the military maybe? It’s a big naval port city.
Next we move to the oldest Ascensor (elevator) in the city where we learn about how the city evolved from the rich living in the flat part of town (as evidenced by lots of large grand houses, now either used as commercial buildings or dilapidated and deserted (reminding us very much of Havana) and the poor living in the hills, to the opposite now, the poor in the flat part, the rich in the hills and beyond.
As we move down the street we see the remnants of these desecrated buildings.
Next we get to take a bus ride! We are going to take the “O” bus, which could be considered the scenic tour bus. It runs all along the ridge roads with fantastic views above the city, and if you stay on it, it will even take you all the way to Vina del Mar – all the for the low, low price of 50 cents. Crazy.
We pack onto the bus, and off we go up into the hills, Ignatius has promised a really fast and crazy ride, but it’s not so nuts. When we get off he says he was disappointed, it was very slow this time. Ah well, it’s still fun on those little buses.
So now we are up in the hills, at, of all places, Plaza Bismark, which is where we stopped on Wednesday to get our bearings and figure out just how the hell we were ever going to make our way to Costa Azul! Funny. It’s a much more relaxed visit today, and we stroll about the nice park snapping pictures of the mosiac columns as well as the view.
We head downhill from here, making our way to the Parque centro cultural Ex-carcel – which is the original prison, now turned into a cultural center. Here we get a lesson about Allende and Pinochet, the dictatorship and how the citizens lived and coped. The prison is a good example of just how deep the pain of the dictatorship still runs. The whole complex is a lovely cultural center, with beautiful gardens and picnic areas, the prison building itself an artist studio now. but because of the memories, the houses around the prison could hear the inmates screaming and crying when being tortured, no one will come here. They don’t want the memories.
After a restroom stop and some more political history, we continue heading downhill, stopping at a water tank that displays excellent examples of Chilean art – wall murals. After Pinochet, when the dictatorship ended, the Chilean people were finally able to freely express their thoughts and speech – and they did so through murals all over the city. Here in the water tank are examples of those murals – the bird and the faces – all of which peacefully co-exist with the “signatures” that abound around Valpo and other cities. These “signatures” are not at all like the gang “tagging” we see in other areas – they are simply an artistic expression of the person signing their name or group identity. And they never, ever interfere with the murals. Each artist holds the others’ work in great esteem so they don’t try to desecrate or paint over one another.
Further down the hilly streets we get to another little park area with lots of mosaic and murals. Here, Ignatius shows us some murals you can only see from up here (they are orange in the distance, the picture isn’t the best) and explains there are murals all over the city using different walls of buildings and different angles that can only be seen in various positions from above, below or from right or left.
Through an alleyway we come upon a huge mural depicting mother earth – and a huge explanation of the tribes of Chile and sacrifices they made and lots of other stuff I don’t remember. But the artwork is incredible!
As we are walking further downhill, we pass a great long mural depicting cows, in a statement about how everyone “follows” the herd. It’s one of my favorites.
Then past the craft brewery here – the only one! – that sadly isn’t open – because we would have just stopped there and had a drink and lunch. But alas, on we troop. Past the guy on the side of the street filleting some huge fish…
..onto the trolley where the Swedish ladies try to tell the local guide that we aren’t standing in the right place to catch the trolley (I thought I’d die laughing), and onto the old trolley for a ride back to Plaza Sotomayor where we will end our tour. All along the tour we’ve had 2 guys photographing our every move, and as it turns out one of them is the owner of the company, the other another guide from Santiago. They are all here for the Autumn harvest festival going on in Casablanca tomorrow (the one that we will miss – by one day!!! – because we are sailing at 4 pm and there isn’t a chance in you know what of us making it there and back to the ship on time – darn it!). Fun company outing – and in the meantime, we’ll be famous! They’re taking pictures for their website…so look for us there soon. 
Off the trolley, we have one final destination, one of the old mansions of the rich families that has now been converted into apartments and offices. We walk up the grand, yet in disrepair, quartz staircase and into the entry vestibule with skylights (now plastic, but originally stained glass), gorgeous woodwork and fantastic wood entry doors with a likeness of the original owner and the family crest. Neat.
As our tour ends, Ignatius has a surprise for us – Pisco-la! Pisco mixed with coca cola! He had mentioned it before, so now we get to try it. Very nice. This was a great 3 hour tour. Very informative and interesting and a great overview of the city. They have another more traditional city highlights tour in the afternoon, but we’re good with this!
We head off to find the internet cafe Ed saw on the trolley ride, and walk into a sort of electronic gaming parlor, dark and dingy, with those electronic betting game machines and a guy behind a gated cage. Again, after Spanglesh, we figure out the word for print – “imprimitur” – and we are directed to #6 upstairs (huh?) to print from the printer in the office. Ok – we’re fairly fearless. Upstairs we go – and there on the side of the low ceilinged room (with the oddly pleasant murals at the eaves end of the room) are 3 computers – one of which is up and working at #6.
Cruise pass downloaded and printed – 300 pesos – 50 cents – we’re back out on the street in search of food. It’s the typical food gawker gauntlet, and after passing a few potentials we settle on Cafe de Oscar – which has a menu of the day for 4000 pesos (about $6US) which includes appetizer, main and dessert. We chose Oscar’s because they have Pulpo de Horno (which is weird, because we’ve never seen baked octopus, but we’re game). So, after more Spanglish, we figure out that Pulpo is really PulpA on the chalkboard (their “a” does NOT look like an “a”) and it is really carne asada. The only pulpO they have is grilled and it is 7500 – as a single dish. Our cheapness takes over, and we end up with Merluza frite (which is what I wanted to begin with) and Chicarrones de Pescado – both on the daily menu.
We both start with Ceviche, which is very good – not as good as Puerto Veijo – but still good. Then the Merluza and the Pescado, which turns out to be fried fish pieces, including a huge salad. Works!
The fried fish pieces were better than the Merluza which I don’t think was cooked 100% through. It was warm, but, it was pretty fleshy colored. Tasted good…and it didn’t make me sick (although I had Charleston flash backs!), but the rest of the meal was great – and it certainly was affordable! The dessert was the best though….
A popsicle! How cute. Mine was banana and Ed’s was mango. Very sweet – and you know what? Perfect end to a nice meal!
It’s only about 2:30, and we sure don’t want to go back to the hotel so we decide to go to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda’s home here. Back on the O we hop, going 5 blocks further than we had before with Ignatius, to the corner where La Sebastiana is located. Public Transportation here is great!
The house is neat. It’s layout is pretty weird, chopped up and narrow, rising 4 floors up on a ridgeline. It is, as with Isla Negra, rather nautical in decor (except the big cow soup bowl that Neruda used to mix drinks in for his guests) and focused on the views and the sea. We can’t take pictures of the furnishings, but we can take pictures of the view.
A lovely little diversion in the afternoon and keeps us busy until it is time to return to Costa Azul. We take the O back to the square, stop by the grocery store for more sliced meat to snack upon this evening then find the Wild Mouse (otherwise known as the 505) for our giggling, swaying, rocking and almost topsy turvy ride back up to our neighborhood.
We hang out in the dining room again, snacking on cheese, crackers and ham, then chatting with the German girls and Fabian as they play cards and Fabian cheats. We finally head back upstairs for our last night with the dogs and car alarms and the fabulous views of the harbor.
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