Sunday 17th January

Up reasonably early so no competition for the bathroom. Made myself a cup of coffee and enjoyed it on the terrace, very pleasant in the morning sunshine. Clear blue sky again and still quite cool. Breakfast of ham, bread, cake and fruit was served in kitchen. Only two of us and the other guy's English was similar level to my Spanish. At ten I joined the "Tours for Tips" walking tour in Plaza Sotomayor. Our leader was Paula a young student of only 20 but quite brilliant, self-confident, charming and knowledgeable. She was assisted by Yasna who was a bit more subdued but still very good. We were a large crowd of over twenty, many of whom were "Americans" on a cruise. In our Spanish class last week Jo was explaining that Chileans felt that they were just as entitled to call themselves Americans as people from the USA but that the "formal"  word "estadounidense" was a bit of a mouthful. "So we just call them "Gringos". 

We walked west into the older part of the city where Paula explained some of Valparaiso's history. It became very prosperous in the 19th century as the southernmost major port on the West coast of the Americas. It was the first port of call for almost all ships travelling from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Which was the fastest route from the East coast of the USA to California until the completion of the transcontinental railway. Valparaiso thrived with large German and British communities among others. But in the early 20th century Valparaiso was hit by two disasters, an earthquake that caused much damage and the opening of the Panama Canal. It declined rapidly, the people with money left and it never fully recovered. 

Plaza Sotomayor with Chilean Naval Office

Faded Glory. This was once a luxury Hotel

Liberty. Claimed to be the oldest bar in Valparaiso

Built when Valparaiso was Prosperous

As we headed into the Plaza Eschaurren Paula advised us not to come here alone and that homelessness, drunkenness and petty street crime were major problems. She reckoned the large number of stray dogs was due to people buying cute little puppies and then abandoning them as they grew bigger. After seeing some of the oldest part of the city we took a small regular bus for a roller coaster of a ride up and down hills until we reached Plaza Bismarck along Avenida Alemania. Great views over the city. 

Another Ascensore

View over the City

View over the City

Houses rising up the Hillside

Then walked down to a cultural centre in the grounds of an old prison where Paula told us some of the later and darker 20th century history of Chile and Valparaiso. Interesting that she believed Chileans are still very polarised. Continued walking down hill past where I am staying and back towards Plaza Sotomayer where she took us into a formerly palatial but now very run down mansion for a drink of Jota, bad wine diluted with coke, and a brief plug for other tours. I thought she did a brilliant job. 

Faded Glory of once Palatial Mansion

DIY Electrics

Paula and Yasna

  

Had lunch in a cafe called Mastodon, Paila marina, a huge stew of mussels and clams in a tasty broth.

One of the Smarter Streets in the Downtown Area 

A Call Centre? 

 Back at the hostal spent ages trying to book my flight to Punta Arenas. Expedia, Sky scanner etc are all quoting me in excess of US$500 one way with Sky and another airline but booking direct with Sky the price is half that! So much for comparison websites; never had that problem before. But either the Sky website is useless or the internet connection is awful. Took me four attempts, having to go through the whole booking procedure before it finally accepted my payment and issued a ticket. Took well over an hour. Later on found that Punta Arenas accommodation is booked almost solid. In Santiago there seemed a good range of options but in both Valparaiso and Punta Arenas there seems a shortage of mid-range places. In the latter there isn't much between several hundred $ a night in an upmarket hotel and a bed in a hostel dormitory. Eventually managed to book two nights in one small hotel/ guest house and two in another. After doing that headed out up one of the other hills Bellavista and then walked along Avenida Alemannia until I reached Plaza Bismarck where we were this morning. After Cerro Concepcion I felt that Bellavista was rather less colourful although it does live up to its name with great views over the city and the bay. 

Street in Bellavista

Cruise Ship and Chilean Navy

Walking down the hill I found a band playing to a large crowd at the cultural centre by the prison. The woman singer was Pascuala Ilabaca

http://pascualailabaca.com/

Pascuala Ilabaca

Dancing to the Music

Great music and obviously very popular. Stayed for a while listening to them until they finished. Continued down the hill and had a Greek salad and beer at one of the cafes in the square. Service was even worse than the last place but did give me a chance to meet the town drunk who was drinking his way through a whole jug of beer. Luckily his English wasn't much better than my Spanish.