We spent the last night of our visit to Chile in Valparaiso. We spent the night at hotel Acontraluz, San Enrique 473 – Cerro Alegre, Valparaíso, Región de Valparaíso, Chile Phone:+56 32 211 1320. This boutique hotel seems non-descript from the exterior on this street that looks very much like all the others in this area. However, when one enters into the sheet metal structure, major renovations have taken place. The interior was gutted and a central stairway leads to the upper floors each serving relatively standard rooms with modern baths. The stain glass inserts in the doors are throwbacks to an earlier age. The view of the harbor from the breakfast room also piques interest. And the breakfast is more than generous in delivery of fresh fruit, meats and cheeses, croissants, cereal,yogurt and fresh eggs. We added mint teas with candied honey to this spread and found ourselves well satisfied before checking out and beginning our tour of exploration.
What we learned is that the central district of Valparaiso is a World Heritage district based on the street art that decorates this area. We found an array of artists and art that ranges from cartoon to the serious depiction of the history of Chile. One mural in particular reminded me of the Picasso Guernica, which depicted the horror of the Spanish civil war, in the scope and image quality. Exactly where this particular art work resides is a mystery to me as our guide, Mauricio Masserano of Chilean Wine Lovers kept us moving through this particular part of the city so we could not only not become a target of pickpockets and other nefarious characters, but so we would be able to have a nice leisurely lunch on our way to our return flight to the world that awaited us .
Valparaiso reminded me of a typical seaport city in that the Chilean Armada building was the predominant structure on the main square, even though the Naval War College was up the coast at Vina del Mar. In the main square we found both a daily market under tents, whose merchants changed from day-to-day, and the more permanent shops that served the cruise ships coming through this port. The prices at the port shops tended to be about two-thirds of those we found at the Santiago airport for the exact same goods, which goes to prove that profit knows no bounds when it comes to travelers, but that those departing by plane often have little time to comparison shop.
While most of the coast line in Valparaiso is commercial related to shipping and moving of goods inland from the many vessels arriving daily,Vina del Mar is the beachfront community where all Valparaisans and in fact Chileans from all over come for their recreation. It is just north of Valparaiso and provides any kind of seashore features you’re looking for. The rocky formations upon which waves crash, the sandy beaches upon which sunbathers gather their rays, or the boating harbors where small craft await at anchor the arrival of their owners. Vina del Mar has it all and the restaurants, hotels and novelty shops which one finds in nearly any beach community. The main attraction for us here is razor clams. On our first visit to Vina del Mar in 2007 we found a diner towards to northern end of the beach areas that had the best razor clams we sampled on that trip. Each time we return we look for a razor clam experience that was better than that. We’ve not found it.
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