Chris
Oh my, what a difference a day makes ! We took a day trip to Valparaiso, a coastal city about 75 miles north west of Santiago. We saw amazing sights in the company of wonderful people with one of, if not the, best guides we have ever had. Miguel was so personable and knowledgeable and funny, he was just great. He told us that before the Panama Canal was built Valparaiso was one of the most important port cities in the world. Ships transitioning from the Atlantic to the Pacific after passing thru the Drake passage at Cape Horn would make their first stop for provisions at Valparaiso . It's significance greatly declined after the Panama Canal opened but it has UNESCO status for its former importance and its beautiful 19th century architecture.
Rhonda: It is March 8 which is Women's Day in Chile. Miguel said look at all the barriers they are putting up for the riots later tonight as we passed the "White House " equivalent building. Without thinking I said " why are they rioting about women? " He said NO, it is the women who riot! Oh my! Chris and I both said we want to see the riots. I don't think the rest of the crew agreed. I thought maybe there was a language barrier and he meant the women were just protesting about thier rights. But no, he meant tear gas, rubber bullets .. they whole thing! Mad Latino women rioting is something I want to have a front row seat to see.
There were 9 of us on the tour today. And not only was Miquel great, but the driver was hilarious. We had 3 young solo travelers, which I admire so much! A couple who are both teachers in Arizona . She is a Spanish teacher which came in handy for us all. A couple from Germany and us knuckleheads. Everyone was delightful and it made our day to be with them and break bread and have wine. Toast to you if you are reading .
Chris:
Today Valparaiso is an art and education Meca. There are many Universities and a high percentage of kids from all over Chile go to Valparaiso for their higher education. As for the art, it is everywhere, the buildings and walls and rocks, anything that can be painted on is painted on and it is spectacular. It's not graffiti but rather amazing amazing works of art. There is graffiti on some of the walls but the really cool thing is the graffiti artist really respect the mural artist so they never paint over the murals. For that reason most residents prefer that their house is covered by a beautiful mural rather than graffiti because apparently in Valparaiso, if it's an outdoor surface, it will be painted. Miguel, who is from Valparaiso by the way and his pride in his city was very apparent all day, told us that several years ago an artist knocked on his mother's door and asked if he could paint a mural on her house ! She said yes please, it's better than graffiti, so for all these years her house has been identified by the mural. I don't know, sounds pretty cool in that setting I guess, but in Garland Texas where we live, can I paint a mural on your house would probably be met with gunfire. Rhonda and I are not "gun people " but plenty of the people in Texas are. I'd be okay with can I pull the weeds out of your flower beds but I kinda pull up at painting a mural on my house. But that's just me.
Rhonda:
We had a wonderful lunch and then headed back towards Santiago. Along the way we stopped in Casablanca at a winery. Omg it was so beautiful. They make a bubbly white wine. The grapes are ripe on the vine and harvest is next week so they let us walk amongst the vines and taste the grapes while sipping bubbly. Ooo lala!
Chris sent a preview earlier that we were at the rooftop bar and watching the " riots". All we saw were a large group of women with a banner and signs walking down the middle of the busy streets blocking traffic anc chanting. None of the really good riot stuff though !!
Hey, we just got notice they are picking us up at 6:25a for our tour up into the Andes mountains tomorrow so we have to go!
Love y'all!
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