Mas Valpo

Another day in Valparaiso (nickname: Valpo)... another day in paradise?  Maybe not quite, but we do really like this city.  It's a bit quiet today, as it's a national holiday and many businesses are shut down today.  Also worth noting is that apparently Valparaiso has a bit of a shady side; it is a port town after all.  The guidebook, our hostel owner, and other travelers are full of warnings about where to avoid in the day time, where to avoid at night, where to watch your pockets, etc.  We've felt safe during out time here, though of course we've been watching our stuff pretty closely and staying out of the areas that are obviously super sketchy (and they're pretty easy to spot).  But on to more positive things!

Contemplating life and the city below from our third floor balcony.

At the bottom, a mural of Salvador Allende.  At the top, yet another campaign poster.  It's election time here too.

It was a bit odd to literally stumble on this sidewalk drawing of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.  There was a performance of several grunge tribute bands here last week, and this drawing must be related.  Chad was very sad that we missed the shows.

This arch was built for Queen Victoria's visit, as part of the attempt to impress her with Valpo.  Our hostel owner described it as "like the Arc de Triomph, but smaller".  Um, yeah.  A lot smaller. 

We think these old school, trolley style busses are no longer used, but who knows?  Maybe on work days.

Outside the Chilean congress buildings.  These massive and odd looking buildings were a Pinochet pet project, though not completed until after his reign ended, in 1990.  Congress now sits here, about 120 km from Santiago (where the rest of government is).  Apparently politicians find this a bit inconvenient and there is speculation that they will turn this building into a hotel and move Congress back to the big city.  

Chilean Naval headquarters.  Yesterday this square was jam packed with cars and merrymakers.  

Heading up Ascensor Artilleria.  More rickety than the last, if that's even possible.  And the weeds growing between the tracks are not exactly confidence inspiring.

Paseo 21 de Mayo, at the top of Ascensor Artilleria - totally worth the trip! 

Valpo has 15 ascensors, built between 1883 and 1916.  Never mind rickety, this one is completely out of order.

We spent part of the afternoon at the impressive Museo Naval y Maritimo.  For some reason, I love maritime museums, and this one did not disappoint.

Chad going to battle.

A stained glass panel of Chile.  Why is part of Antarctica in that panel, you may ask?  Well, according to the charts we saw today, Chile is claiming the tip of Antarctica as its own.  I suspect Argentina may have a problem with that (never mind the rest of the world).

This panel and the one below are maps from the late 1700s.  A big chunk of North America is missing, as is a big chunk of Australia.  And who are those guys at the bottom?  Colon, Magellan, Copernicus, and Neil Armstrong.

The museum also has a display for Los 33, the miners who were trapped underground a couple years ago and successfully rescued after 69 days.  This is the capsule that brought them up.  A success, and a great PR for the president, whose popularity was falling at the time.  The connection: search and rescue personnel who first went down to check the miners were from the navy.

Could it be a coffee that actually tastes like coffee??

A boat prow shaped to look like... a chicken?  A pigeon?  I think it may actually be a condor, which appears to be Chile's national bird.

We ended up spending most of the day walking about and going to the museum, so after resting up a bit we headed for dinner, which was accompanied by more craft beer.  The local treat: Cerveza del Puerto.

Lager on the left (not so good), Brown Ale on the right (might have been an accident, but sure was tasty!)