parked dogs

    Chile Trip, Part 3: Valparaíso, City of Colour

    This port city is a bit rougher than Santiago, but its artwork is more established and more substantial.

    This is where we stayed, and the view from the window of the breakfast room:


    And here’s the same mural from ground level.

    Some of the artists like figures with way too many eyes:

    [aesop_gallery id="5518" revealfx="off" overlay_revealfx="off"]

    Or way too many crowns:

    [aesop_gallery id="5519" revealfx="off" overlay_revealfx="off"]

    The art doesn’t stop taggers, though:

    If your canvas is a wide stretch of concrete, sometimes your subject has to be sideways:

    [aesop_gallery id="5522" revealfx="off" overlay_revealfx="off"]

    And a few more:

    [aesop_gallery id="5524" revealfx="off" overlay_revealfx="off"]

    It was hard to reach the sea because of the port and the railway line. So we took the train a few kilometres along the coast to Viña del Mar, where there’s a beach:

    [aesop_gallery id="5527" revealfx="off" overlay_revealfx="off"]

    Back in Valparaíso proper the dogs are parked everywhere, as usual, and there are funiculars, because it’s very hilly:

    [aesop_gallery id="5528" revealfx="off" overlay_revealfx="off"]

    Chile Trip, Part 2: Santiago, Street Art, and More

    As you’ll recall if you’ve been paying attention, I started what appeared to be a series of posts on our trip to Chile. But then stopped. Well, not exactly, because here we are again. It just takes me a long time to sort out all the photographs.

    We spent three days in Santiago (and another one at the end, just before we flew back).

    You can click on any of the photos or galleries below for a bigger view.

    Santiago Street Art

    Santiago Street Art
    Santiago Street Art

    There’s a lot of street art, much of it showing some of the artists, musicians, and writers who have come from Chile or had an impact on it.

    There are plenty of other subjects, though.

    As well as oddities like this gym which is supporting the most popular Linux distribution:

    Santiago Street Art
    Santiago Street Art

    And there is more formal public art, too.

    Up Hill, Down Cable

    Funicular Castle
    Funicular Castle

    Santiago is in the foothills of the Andes, at 500m above sea level, so mountains are all around it:

    [aesop_gallery id=“5117” revealfx=“off” overlay_revealfx=“off”]

    Though it’s hard to tell the mountains from the clouds in that first one.

    But there’s a hill in the city itself, big enough to have both a funicular and a cable car. We went up one and down the other.

    [aesop_gallery id=“5130” revealfx=“off” overlay_revealfx=“off”]

    Apart from the ride, you get great views, of course, but the main attraction is the giant statue at the top: Our Lady of the Radio Masts:

    A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has been used to support various radio and mobile phone antennas.
    A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has been used to support various radio and mobile phone antennas.

    Also known as the Ladderback Virgin:

    A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a ladder up her back.
    A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a ladder up her back.

    (OK, those are just my names for her.)

    This is the kind of thing you really go up for, though:

    [aesop_gallery id=“5132” revealfx=“off” overlay_revealfx=“off”]

    Flags and Padlocks

    A bridge covered in padlocks
    A bridge covered in padlocks

    La Moneda is the President’s official residence. Outside it we find the biggest flag I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t windy enough to really get the effect, unfortunately.

    [aesop_gallery id=“5134” revealfx=“off” overlay_revealfx=“off”]

    And then there’s this lovely bridge:

    A bridge in Santiago, Chile
    A bridge in Santiago, Chile

    Which demonstrates that “love locks” get everywhere (and they didn’t originate in Paris, as I have just learned):

    A bridge in Santiago , covered in padlocks
    A bridge in Santiago , covered in padlocks

    More later.