Another 42 hills?

WARNING: This post has a number of pictures that may be unsuitable for those unnacustomed to vibrant colors.

On Wednesday and Thursday my program took a trip to Isla Negra (Pablo Neruda's house on the shore), Viña del Mar, and Valparaiso. The general idea was to let us see parts of Chile that are fairly close to Santiago. We drove in a bus to Isla Negra. Later, in the afternoon, we headed to Viña. The following day we took public transportation from Viña to Valpo and from Valpo back to Santiago. Now we know how to take the bus to get to the beach! Round trip it's only about $10.

This is the entrance to the eclectic home of Pablo Neruda:

It was a pretty strange place with collections of the maidens on the front of ships, a stable built for a ceramic horse, a room dedicated to the collection of seashells, and with a 180 degree view of the sea from the bedroom.

Here's his boat:

We had some time before our tour of La Isla Negra started to we went to the beach:

We all climbed around on the rocks and even found a mermaid:

Then we headed to Viña del Mar, which is a very new city with a number of hotels, restaraunts, discos, and even a casino. It sprang up in the 70s when Valparaiso's economy was tanking. The rich from Valparaiso just moved about 2 miles up the coast.

A typical looking hotel in Viña:

The casino where I lost all of the money I brought with me for the entire semester (mom, a little help?):

A restaurant made to look like a boat:

A castle made to look as though it's in Germany (there is a large German immigrant population in Chile):

Finally to wrap up our day in Viña we watched the sun set over the ocean:

We spent Thursday on a walking tour of Valparaiso. It is a city that stretches across 42 distinct hills (as if I don't have enough posts about hills already). It's this old city that was never planned out so most of the streets are really alleys that turn every which way. It's a port city that had a thriving economy throughout the 1800s. But in 1914 the Germans invented man made gunpowder and Chile's supply of saltpeter was no longer necessary. In the same year the Panama Canal opened, meaning ships from Europe no longer needed to stop in Valpo to gather more supplies while rounding South America to get to the Western Coast of the United States. The economy really tanked and by the 70s it was the poorest city in Chile. Recently there has been a movement to rejuvenate the city. A number of old homes were purchased and turned into lofts, hotels and restaurants. Our tour was mostly through the revitalized part of town.

Originally this was where ships would pull in to unload (the land has since been expanded with land fill):

Pictures of some of the many hills:

A view of the port:

There was art everywhere in the city. There are murals on almost every wall (albeit with a large amount of graffiti too) and even some on sidewalks:

As though that wasn't enough of a feast for our eyes, all of the houses are painted in vibrant colors:

Right before we headed home we had lunch at a cafe that translates to "The one-eyed cat." It was atop of one of the hills and the glass walls provided an excellent view of the houses down to the ocean:

I know that was a long post, but so it goes. I'll write more about normal life and classes (which started on Friday) next time. I just didn't want to overwhelm.

Bueno Bye.