El Fanoos: Cities By The Sea

Overlooking Valparaiso´s bay from Cerro Concepcion

Many of Viña del Mar´s stoplights have a juggler or fire-eater performing for spare change

An old shipping pier in Viña, now only frequented by sea birds

Viña del Mar´s wide streets and seaside hills

We were headed to the beach. Viña del Mar, from what we had heard, was a nice beach town where one is able to relax. It´s also situated next to one of Chile´s most aesthetic, historic, and important cities, Valparaiso. After nearly a month of arid, mountainous interior we were excited to see the Pacific.

I expected Viña an Valparaiso to complement each other very well—beach town and port city side-by-side, much like South Beach and Miami. At first glance, Viña was much more like Miami, with a large, commercial downtown, large malls, and slummy sections of town that time has forgotten. To give Viña credit, unlike Miami it´s blessed with seaside hills that lend the town a romantic charm.

We soon realized that summer was over in this part of the world. Stepping off the bus on a seaside hightway, I had to pull out my jacket to shield me from the cold breeze blowing off the Pacific. The next day we confirmed that there would be no beach time. The weather forecast called for cool, overcast days. The water around Viña is the type that causes hesitation even in the summer. The chilly Humboldt Current turns some away all together. With no hope of warm, sunny beach days, we turned our attention to Valparaiso.

Someone needs to bring this to the US. You can pay to have your car washed while it´s parked for the day and come back to a sparkling, clean ride. Brilliant.

The colorful neighborhood in which we stayed, Viña del Mar.

Waves lapping Viña´s shores

Natural History Museum, Valparaiso

Vegan lasagna bolognaise and Gluten pizza, Bambu, Valparaiso. Delicious!

The view from Cerro Panteon

Cemetario de Disidentes (The Protestant Cemetary), Cerro Panteon

Cemetario de Disidentes, Cerro Panteon

Situated on a large, sheltered bay surrounded by 42 cerros, or “hills”, overlooking the water, Valparaiso (or Valpo as it´s known to the locals) has played an important role in Chile´s history and culture (it´s often called Chile´s cultural capitol). It´s from here that Spanish conquistadors re-supplied Chilean colonies, then, conversely, the Chilean Navy (with the help of the British) fought for independence from colonial control. Valpo was frequently attacked by pirates such as Sir Francis Drake, as he patrolled the coast looking for opportunities to weaken the Spanish colonies in the name of the Crown (and probably fill his personal coffers while he was at it). The famous Chilean Nobel Laureate, Pablo Neruda, had a home here, which he named La Sebastiana after the architect who was able to capture the tight, labrynthine essence of Valparaiso in the structure. In 1980, the Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, moved the legislativge branch to Valpo to divide power, controversially building the new government building over the neighborhood of his childhood home. The oddly shaped structure now dominates El Plan, the city´s commercial center. Today, the bustling port city plays a key role in Chile´s relatively strong economy, bringing imported goods into the country and shipping out, among other things, a bounty of fresh fruits.

For two days we scaled the hills of Valparaiso taking in magnificent views of the rainbow-colored hills—covered in brightly painted houses and brilliant urban art—against a maritime backdrop. It´s an incredibly romantic place to spend a few days, but since it´s a functioning port city it´s less geared towards tourism than a longer stay would warrant.

Although it could take a lifetime to explore Valpo´s maze-like streets and alleys, we felt we had made a sufficient dent. It was time to move on from both the quiet hillsides of Viña and the steep, busy streets of Valparaiso. Even though hiking Valpo´s hills is a great workout, both Melissa and I looked forward to the seclusion and natural wonders of northern Chile and Bolivia. But before that we were going to make one more stop along the coast, in La Serena, where the family of Melissa´s friend from Tucson was awaiting our arrival.