Try the elevators
by chancay
Valparaiso is a beautiful little town at the ocean with old colonial houses, a lot of them climbing the hills of the town. There are more than 10, some of them very old, elevators that makes it easier to go up these hills. It´s very interesting to use them and enjoy the great views from the top of the hills.
Next to Valparaiso (it´s almost like one town) you come to Viña del Mar, another beautiful place with exciting buildings and where to visit one of the houses of Pablo Neruda, the great chilenian author.
Pablo Neruda
by Bjorgvin
Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was the son of a railway employee and a mother he lost shortly after his birth. As a young boy he got to know the poet Gabriela Mistral, who encouraged him. He was about 13 when he published his first poem. In 1920 he began to write under the pen name Pablo Neruda (his real name was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto). Neruda studied at the University of Chile in Santiago. Between 1927 and 1935 he employed by the Chilean Foreign Service, which took him to Burma, Ceylon, Java, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Madrid, and later to France in the Spanish Civil War. In 1937 he returned to his native country, but in 1939 he was appointed consul in Paris, and, shortly afterwards, in Mexico. In 1943 Neruda returned to Chile, and in 1945 he was elected senator of the Republic, also joining the Communist Party of Chile. Because of his protests against the government he had to live underground in his own country for two years until he managed to leave the country in 1949. He returned home in 1952. In 1971 this great poet won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1973. His first published book: Crepusculario (1923). The following year saw the publication of Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada, one of his best known and most translated works. Residencia en la tierra (1933). Collection of poems: España en el Corazón (1937). Canto General de Chile (1939). Las Uvas y el Viento (1954). Among his works of the last few years can be mentioned Cien sonetos de amor (1959), Memorial de Isla Negra, a poetic work of an autobiographic character in five volumes, published on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, Arte de pajáros (1966), La Barcarola (1967), the play Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta (1967), Las manos del día (1968), Fin del mundo (1969), Las piedras del cielo (1970), and La espada encendida. - Pablo Neruda maintained a house on the Pacific coast near Valparaíso called Isla Negra. The Isla Negra house has been turned into a permanent museum dedicated to the poet.
the triumph arch
by globetrott
This triumph arch reminded me a lot of the ones that I saw, built by the romans more than 2000 years ago. But this one in Valparaiso, at the end of Av. Brasil is just a bit older than 100 years and it is dedicated to the local heros, officers of the spanish army who were helping to gain the independance for the state of Chile : O'Higgins , O'Brian and Simpson
Ascensores / Lifts / funiculars
by globetrott
The Ascensores / Lifts / funiculars of Valparaiso recently became part of the "UNESCO World-Heritage" and the best about them is that they are a really cheap and efficient way of transport. A single ride is mostly just 100 local$ (= 0,20 euros or 25 US$cents)
The only reason why I did not take any of them was that I did not have a lot of time and was not able to ask, how often the funiculars will go up and down and I did not want to miss my ship.
If you have a car, go and make...
by Free-South
If you have a car, go and make your own TOUR ALONG THE COAST from Viña to Santo Domingo (from 33 to 33.45' S). In this section, the northern part of the journey. {The picture was taken on January 1, 1999, and shows one of those nearly deserted beaches}
Quintay, Mirasol, Algarrobo... These will be your almost exclusive beaches south of Valparaíso. Take some wild dirt roads which go along sea cliffs (don't go too fast unless your heart is OK) and discover these wonderful beaches which almost nobody ever visits!
Sign in with Facebook
Stained glass ceiling of restaurant at the top
Comandancia en Jefe de la Armada
Armada de Chile
my cruiseship : the Celebrity Infinity
Comments