Today I used the Metro to visit Vina del Mar, the city adjacent to Valparaiso. It wasn’t terribly interesting, so I had some lunch and pottered around a bit but didn’t stay as long as I expected. I returned to Valparaiso in search of ascensores and watched the sun set on the port.
On the way to the Metro, I popped into the Naval Museum nearby. Most of it was full of the daring exploits of Chilean naval personnel, especially when Chile was successful in the 19th century. But a few other things caught my eye.
The 1746 map showing Australia – but only the western bits – was a surprise; the map was on a lovely stained glass window, and it was not really clear to me why Neil Armstrong was on the window as well, which added to the surprise. The Wanted poster for Francis Drake, described by the Chileans as a pirate, was also a surprise to me; they were clearly miffed that the Queen of England had chosen to beknight him, when they regarded him as worthy of locking up and arresting – or worse. The local branch of the Dockers football club is also evident in the third photo, which I had not previously realised.
The museum also had an interesting display about Cape Horn, and I learned that there is a society of captains of sailing ships that have rounded the Cape without engine help. The painting was the prizewinner in a competition on rounding Cape Horn under sail. Before the advent of the Panama Canal, the route to and from Europe went via the treacherous Cape Horn and then up to Valparaiso, which made the city rich. Cape Horn was even described by some as the biggest cemetery in the world, as it was very treacherous.
Continuing the nautical theme, just before I got on the metro, I spotted a rather weathered statue of Christopher Columbus (known in Spanish as Cristobal Colon) on the nearby wharf, obviously erected in 1992, the 500th anniversary of his ‘discovery’ of the New World.
The Metro ride to Viña del Mar was very smooth and easy, but the town itself didn’t really appeal to me, certainly nowhere near as interesting as its neighbour. The picture at the top of this blog shows that it is on the coast; apparently it is a popular destination for local holiday makers, especially Argentine folks. The rows and rows of beachside apartments did not stir my soul much – and nor did the beach itself. It reminded me of a slightly shabbier version of Australia’s Gold Coast, and no more attractive.
It’s a sure sign you’re in tourist territory when you see a horse and cart, but I was surprised to see a Kombi again. (I think I have found where they all came to die …). At first I thought it strange that all the children’s toys were available for hire, but then I figured that probably kids don’t normally have things like that (as they don’t normally have an outside space to call their own), so it seemed less strange.
There were some sea birds on the nearby shore that I watched for a while. Some of them were quite photogenic:
There was a slightly interesting archeological, museum I visited, especially as it had some interesting material on Easter Island (which is part of Chile)
The museum even had a genuine Easter Island statue out the front (the other statues are from a video I watched), as well as carved wooden statues (with ribs) inside. Apart from other problems, it’s a sad story of environmental mismanagement that they used up all the wood on the island for fuel, and so were not able to build boats to go elsewhere, it seems.
The three pictures below show three different things that caught my eye. The large park in the middle of the city was damaged by the 2010 Chilean earthquake, with a major building still under reparation. The big crack in this rock wall gives an indication of the size of the quake. (I think it measured 8.8, one of the strongest in recorded history.) Too scary to think about much …
The funny shaped rocks were in the archeological museum, and were related to the Inca people. I’ve seen them a few times now (including in Santiago); it’s funny how things from a different continent become familiar after a short while. Somehow, I had not seen these in my previous life, presumably because museums I go to (in Australia, Asia and Europe mostly) did not mention the Incas. The third photo shows a bit of street campaigning, as there is a Presidential election coming up (next month, I think). It seems a pretty open contest, but I hope it turns out better for Chile than did the last American election I was close to did for the USA. I’ve seen lots of leaflets being handed out in the streets, as well as the occasional person like this waving flags.
I popped briefly into the casino in Viña del Mar, as I happened to be walking past it. I wandered over to the Roulette tables and watched a chap put 80.000 Chilean Pesos (around $160 Australian) on the table (not in a very strategic way) in each of three successive spins and lose the lot. It took no more than 15 minutes. He probably thought he was unlucky as two of the spins came up 00, the banker’s number in the Americas, but I thought he was just foolish. I’m not a gambler – as I know way too much probability – but my hunch is that if one of this big bets came off, he would have reinvested it and lost it anyway. My AirBnB host in Santiago told me that the minimum monthly wage in Chile is around 220.000 Chilean pesos, so he blew more than a month’s minimum salary in about 15 minutes. I am an advocate of teaching gambling in school, so that people will understand what not to do and why to not do it; I wonder if it would have helped him, poor chap. I hope he could afford to lose money like that and did not continue to lose even more after I left. He did not look prosperous, but looks can deceive.
Back in Valpairaiso, I went in search of more ascensores. I managed to find one working (and of course went up and down it). This was some distance away from the more interesting parts of town, but I noticed from the vantage point at the top that even some of the newer apartment buildings have large murals, as you can see. One of the ascensores I found had been replaced (I think) with an elevator, and I chose to walk down after going up; the picture shows that this was a little tricky, with steps going every which way. It would be a nightmare if it were raining; mercifully it wasn’t.
While searching for acsensores, I discovered what must be close to the ugliest piece of public sculpture I’ve seen anywhere. I realise that tastes differ, but I did wonder what on earth they were thinking to install this huge work in a main street. I also noticed that Halloween stuff has started to appear with the street sellers, maybe reflecting North American influences? I think that the associated Latin American festival is Day of the Dead. I’ll have to check it out, as I will still be in Chile at that stage.
I had an evening meal overlooking the large container port, not far from my present abode (so that I could get home safely before dark!). I was fascinated to watch the containers being loaded onto the ship and onto trucks. It all looked very efficient, and I could see almost no people except the truck drivers (whom I assumed were in their trucks still). Part of me marvelled at the extraordinary amount of mathematics and computing that makes it all work, moving very large and heavy things with precision and somehow remembering where everything is and needs to go … But another part of me worried about all the people that used to work there, but now no longer do. And when the truck drivers are also replaced by automatic driverless vehicles, they will be gone too. Not a good outlook for the local people, although no doubt the Port Authority and the Shipping companies will prosper.
My little blue restaurant looked rather fragile from the outside, although it was fine from inside. I decided to ignore the possibility of an earthquake while I was enjoying my meal and a beer, watching all the activity way below me.
Fortunately, nothing happened and I made it home OK, neither shaken by an earthquake nor by a local unemployed street criminal …
My last full day in Valparaiso tomorrow …
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