Tuesday was spent in Vina / Valparaiso. We started with a visit to PUCV to meet Jimena and get my payment from the central administration. We piled into Jimena's SUV with Ash squeezed in the jump seats at the rear. Tim's lady, Melissa, joined us for this tour also. We went first to the classic overlook south of Valparaiso. It is amazing to look west over the sea and think that the next land mass is Australia (or, maybe New Zealand).
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| Ash could get a neck ache from this seating arrangement |
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| The main administration building of PUCV - inside is a huge courtyard |
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| The headlands near Valparaiso |
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| Beyond Rachel and Ash is the Pacific with the next stop being Australia |
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| The cemetery with lower class housing beyond (but they all have a great sea view) |
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| The functioning lighthouse |
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| We were enjoying the nice weather and the views from Valparaiso never disappoint |
We then drove to the port area and took Ascensor Artilleria up the steep hill while Jimena drove the car to meet us up top. This provides a great view of the city especially over the port area. There are also some nice vendor shops which I made use of.
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| Headed up the easy way - in an ascensor |
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| The classic view of the container port of Valparaiso |
Jimena drove us through some of the winding and narrow streets of the hills then we decided to head to the port marina to take a boat tour. We had never done this before so I especially looked forward to it. There are standard tours but we would have had to wait so Jimena commissioned us a boat (still quite reasonably priced) and we embarked on a private tour of about 45 minutes. It was pretty cold out on the water so that was long enough. It was great to see this metro area from the water but the best part was to get close to the lazy sea lions as they sun bathed on buoys or ships.
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| Our tour boat |
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| On board before we donned our life vests |
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| In the bay, the National Geographic expedition ship Endeavour was getting totally refurbished |
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| Sea lions living the good life in Valparaiso bay |
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| We drew up close and few bailed out to avoid our nearness |
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| These huge creatures are actually pretty adorable |
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| Sweet face |
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| One of the tankers waiting in Valparaiso bay |
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| Our PUCV engineering building from the sea - I could even see my office windows (top floor, in the middle) |
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| This was the best I could in capturing the pelicans flying in formation around the bay |
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| More sea lions lounge on a docked up ship |
Returning, Jimena let us off in the hills and we choose a lunch place she recommended,
Cafe Turri. The view was nice (though it was cold sitting outside) and the food very good but it was really over priced. Fortified, we walked around and ended up at the art museum, housed in a mansion, the
Barburizza Palace. The mansion had just been refurbished and was still being completed. The collection was a nice set of Chilean artists mainly from the early 20th century. The entire mansion was utilized from the basement to the attic and there were few visitors. In fact, it was a restful and enjoyable interlude of a busy day.
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| I totally forget what they were whispering about |
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| Randy's smoked salmon was primo |
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| Strolling the neighborhood after lunch we chanced on a lane with a unique use for discarded bathtubs and bidets |
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| We walked up this interesting pedestrian street - colorful in a seedy way |
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| We learned that the metal siding that is common on the historic buildings in Valparaiso was used as ballast in the many ships that arrived in Valparaiso. Not needed anymore, it was repurposed to construction |
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| A colorful building across from the art museum, the Barburizza Palace |
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| One of the paintings within the palace |
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| One of my favorite pictures at the museum - lovely handling of light |
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| This painting is massive |
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| Worth a visit if you are in Valparaiso |
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| The interesting Art Nouveau exterior - built for the original owner, business person Pasual Baburizza, from Croatia in 2016 |
We then walked down to the main city (the flat area). We randomly caught a city bus and were lucky enough to end up right at our building at PUCV where we retrieved our car from the underground carpark.
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at the Floral Clock of Vina for a photo opportunity. Then, the
Fonck museum to view the moai from Easter Island and the (horrible) Rodin sculpture. These three are iconic musts of Vina and Ash and Rachel (now fully rested) appreciated their uniqueness.
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| Ash and Rachel at the Floral Clock of Vina, an overrated sight in my opinion |
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| Doing our best moai imitation at Museo Fonck - I think Ash captured it best |
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| A vigorous imitation of the Rodin statue, which must be the worst thing he ever sculpted, at Palacio Carrasco |
That evening, we invited folks over for dinner and to watch the U.S. play soccer at the American Cup. We dined on pasta and salad (and wine) but saw the U.S. lose badly to Argentina. Argentina would go to the finals (and lose to Chile).
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| Tim, Randy, Ash and Rachel at dinner at our apartment in Vina |
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| Jimena and Pedro Salud with the soccer on the TV in the background |
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| Randy digs in while Tim checks out the wine |
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| Watching the disappointing game of U.S. versus Argentina (disappointing for U.S. fans that is) - Tim and Melissa, in the foreground |
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| While we watched soccer after dinner, Jimena graded. What a hard worker (though she was accompanied by some wine)! |
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