Valparaiso, Chile

 Last port of call is Valparaiso in mid Chile.  We did take a tour of this area where there is art work/ graffiti everywhere.  Some encourage the work as art and some is artistic.  You can be the judge...i took many pictures.  We also visited the Vina Del Mar area which is cleaner and attracts many tourist during the year.  At the end of the tour we took one of the 24 "hills' to the top and viewed the town and port from that vantage point.

As we first exited the port we saw some really crappy art work...at least I saw it as interesting, .. actually  kind of pointalistic.  This parking lot is a very popular resting spot for the sea gulls and they scatter as vehicles pass through.  As they hang out they "decorate" the parking lot.  Come on, use your artistic imagination.

First stop - Vina Del Mar (often called the Garden City) and the Fonck Museum  of Archeology and History featuring the Mapuche culture (The most numerous group of Indians in South America who numbered more than 1,400,000 at the turn of the 21st century) and the Rapa Nui of Easter Island. 

Fun aside: Viña del Mar was declared a sister city of Sausalito, California (a city north of San Francisco), in 1971. To demonstrate the sister city relationship, you can find a square (plaza) called "Viña del Mar" in downtown Sausalito, and a "Sausalito" stadium and "Sausalito" lagoon in Viña del Mar.

Functioning flower clock

Francisco Fonck Museum of Archeology and History

I really enjoyed the pottery work created by these cultures and shown in this museum.  Rather whimsical.  Full of character.

And surprisingly a Rodin outside of the museum in the courtyard - "La Defensa"

View returning to Valparaiso just a short distance from Vina Del Mar.  Valparaiso has a population of 1 million.

Back to Valparaiso to explore one of the many (45) hills which are rather reminiscent of San Francisco - steep and heavily built upon.  The bus took us up the hill and we road a very old funicular tram car (15 still functioning in the hills today) back down.  As we go up the hillside you will see that the houses are very close together, most poorly constructed and that any flat surface is open to interpretation and art/graffiti....

Just as an aside, earthquakes are extremely common in this area and unless it is above a 6.0 or so they continue about their daily business with no notice.  Even more surprising is that the buildings in this area and Santiago hold up very well through all these earthquakes - even the high rises.

 

Pablo Neruda's large home. even it's walls were painted with art.
Pablo Neruda - Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Palacio Baburizza is the former residence of Croatian businessman Pascual Baburizza located in Valparaíso, Chile. It was built in 1916 by Italian architects. The building is an art nouveau chalet with remarkable details in its woodwork, wrought iron, and central turret.  Today it houses art work.

Okay, so to the question of all of the art/graffiti work throughout Valparaiso.  It is ubiquitous.  No surface apparently is sacred because it showed up on some very historically significant buildings and on construction sites and houses and fences and decaying buildings, and, and.\, and....  It is widely accepted and it could be that it is appreciated in a way that might be hard to understand from another cultural background. The next series of pictures will try to give you a scope of what I am talking about.  You be the judge...of course, art is about what you personally think of it, isn't it?  Enjoy or click past - what ever is your pleasure.

And finally - the port of Valparaiso was the busiest harbor I have ever experienced.  I specifically noticed this as our docked cruise ship was continually gently rocking from the waves caused by the boat traffic around us.  Boats, tugs, cruise ships, container ships were all coming and going constantly.  Entertainment right there.  This is a gas boat loading up our Viking Jupiter....it sat beside us for 7 hours and required tug boats to steady it again us because of the wave action.

And a floating boat dock right outside our balcony...had lights on it all night.

All lit up at night...like all night...like daylight in our room all night lit up.  Makes a pretty picture though.