Valparaiso, Chile
I flew 1900 miles from Punta Arenas, Patagonia to Santiago de Chile and then took a shuttle to reach Valparaiso. Valparaiso is a hilly, bohemian port city where the Chilean Naval fleet resides. The city is known for its street art and its hills. The front desk clerk at Casa Galos boutique aparthotel had been a tour guide in pre-Covid times so he shared a bunch of history with me including stories about the American-Chilean War. What? Yes, The U.S. has been involved in Chilean politics for centuries with the most recent involvement being the CIA-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet who came to power in a coup. Pinochet was notorious for atrocities against the Chilean people. This is a painful memory for the Chilean people and still fresh since Pinochet ruled until 1990.
I spent two nights in this port city with a strong artistic vibe. On my last morning I took a walk and peeked into the window of a dance school and saw young ballerinas at practice. On the next block I heard a saxophone playing jazz in a Catholic church and a few steps further the riffs from an electric guitar caught my ear. And the street art is like none I’d ever seen before.
I love Chilean wines so I did a winery tour and lunch at a vineyard about 30 minutes from the city. Turns out Matetic Winery is owned by the same guy who owns Patagonia Camp where I had been prior to coming to Valparaiso. Matetic is an organic winery that uses natural techniques to avoid the use of pesticides, example: they plant roses at the base of the vines to which attracts the bugs and keeps them from the fruit. Chile is experiencing drought conditions so the vineyard has had to dig deeper each year to access water.
The food in Valparaiso is good, but not as cheap as in Argentina because the Chilean peso is strong and comparable to the U.S. dollar.
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