Although I wanted to get away from museums and churches on this vacation, I was feeling a bit museum-deprived. So this morning we started with a visit to the Pablo Neruda museum/house, La Sebastiana. It was very cool – a rambling house on a hill with a great view of the bay, filled with Neruda’s eclectic art collection. Valparaiso is a dream for art lovers, with murals and street art at every turn, so it was like walking through an open-air museum everyday, with the the bay providing the natural beauty. Two of many murals are below:

That said, it’s also still gritty, and our guides advised that there are areas so dangerous that even locals don’t go there. We obviously didn’t head in those directions, and stayed in the charming, more touristic   cerros (hills). Our hotel was also filled with eclectic pieces of art and had a great view of the bay:

For our city tour with Leonora and Jorge, we told them to show us why they loved Valparaiso, not necessarily the tourist areas. We did hit a couple mandatory plazas, but the highlight was the ascent into the lighthouse. Jorge’s connections got us past the security barriers and up to the top of the lighthouse, with an outstanding, if windy, view of the bay. (Jim and I thought we were done climbing after Atacama, but the hills of Valparaiso and the lighthouse gave us a few final treks.)

90 lighthouses in Chile are manned by naval staff, and it turns out Jorge did this in a past life – hence his connection. We were treated to a talk on Chile’s system of lighthouses by who we believe was the director in charge.

We finished the day with something totally different – lunch and a ride through Vina del Mar. In a 10-minute ride, we went from the artsy, bohemian, gritty port city of Valparaiso to Chile’s premiere beach resort, chockablock with gardens, high rises and expensive stores and restaurants. I never would have thought our last meal in Chile would be at a casino built in 1930, but it was, and it was delicious. Here again our guides were the connection: Leonora used to work at this hotel and casino and knew half of the staff, it seemed.

Then it was off to the airport and the long slog home. But Leonora and Jorge made the most of it for us by playing special Chilean ‘goodbye’ music as we approached the airport. Adios, Chile!

Atacama – One More Time

I can’t end the trip report without a few pictures of our hotel in the desert, Tierra Atacama, since this is the main reason we ended up in Chile. It lived up to every expectation, from the delicious food to the beautiful, natural setting and rustic yet elegant rooms.