Olmue, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar and Santiago

We were lucky. Hosteria de Valle Verde turned out to be very nice indeed with an excellent breakfast included. Cost C$30,000 (£34).

Nancy outside our cabin with the little Kia.


Reception.


We drove down to Valparaiso on the Pacific coast where it was again noticeably cooler and foggy due, I understand, to the influence of the Humboldt Current.

There is convenient parking underneath Plaza Sotomayor next to Muelle Prat. The plaza itself is surrounded by and interesting array of buildings.

Valparaiso port and some ships of the
Chilean Navy.


Port Authority building.


Imposing Armada de Chile building.




Rear entrance to the navy building.


Art and Cultural Centre.


Hotel Reina Victoria.


Fire station.


Memorial statue - Arturo Prat.



Cia Chilena de Navegacion Interoceanica S.A.


Fresh produce is very cheap in Chile. These avocados cost C$1000 (£1.15).


Memorial to Lord Cochrane who commanded the Chilean Navy amongst others. More about him from the RN and the Chilean navy.


Ships at anchor off Valparaiso.


Houses on steep hills overlooking the port area.


Funicular railway. One of many in Valparaiso.


Back in the car we drove up a winding road to residential areas overlooking the port. All cabling is above ground.




Very steep streets.


Trolleybus on Plaza Sotomayor. A wealth of detail on these buses here.


From Valparaiso we drove a few miles up the coast to Viña del Mar.

Our backs to the Pacific at Reñaca beach. Sailing west from here the next land would be Dudley beach south of Newcastle, Australia some 6158.46 nautical miles away.


Viña del Mar is home to the Chilean navy Escuela de Armamentos.


Lots of old guns from scrapped Chilean warships. Mostly British and American built.


I hadn't seen these before. Large transparent spheres in a shallow pool. A child is sealed inside (with enough air) and then rolls the sphere around the pool. They are called water balls.


Before going back to santiago we stopped by we stopped by Edificio Miramar. Around US$110,000 buys a new 2 bedroom apartment with (somewhat distant) sea views. I thought this was a bit expensive especially as bedroom 2 could be described as a large cupboard.