On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
way2blue
We’d originally planned to stay in Santiago for three nights, visiting the historic parts of town. But our niece, who’d spent a college year abroad in Chile, told us her favorite Chilean city was Valparaíso. Driving into Valparaíso with directions via Apple Maps was a bit daunting. As the app shows you the ‘fastest’ way, not the simplest way for gringos. And without cellular, we couldn’t improvise on the fly.
We dropped down into a series of very narrow twisty roads. At one point we needed to back up as we’d missed a sharp left switchback. An elderly man, standing on the side of the road, pointed us in the correct direction. As we finally cruised past our lodging, looking for a parking space, a young woman signaled that she was leaving and we were set. Left the car there till it was time leave (which we did by dropping down to the modern port, then using the main roads to find our way back to the highway to Santiago).
More trompe l’oeil.
On our second day (our only full day), we dropped down into the adjacent ravine and up the other side. As I mentioned—lots of stairs. There is an elevator, Ascensor Reina Victoria, on the south side for those who prefer riding in style.
A lot of buildings are sided in corrugated metal panels (similar to La Boca, Buenos Aires).
Mosaic covered pillars in a small park, Plaza Bismarck, at the top of our walkabout. (Our host had drawn boundaries on a map marking the limit of where we could safely walk.)
Birds for Albatrossity…
An old brick armory from colonial times at the Parque Cultural de Valparaíso. Also decorated with murals. One of the former prison buildings in this park had been taken over by vagrants until locals organized to clean up the site and convert the building into a community center.
A common sight—corrugated siding covered with graffiti.
Another mural. I spent our last half day walking all the streets in the barrio—photographing any murals I’d missed.
Our host had pointed me to the ‘piano stairs’ where I found more birds for Albatrossity… Then a quick lunch with a pisco sour at my new favorite roof-top restaurant before driving back to the Santiago airport & flying home.
eclare
So much street art, lovely.
Elma
Our South American tour included a day trip from Santiago to Valparaiso. It was a good thing you followed your host’s limits on “safe to walk”. Valparaiso was a beautiful fun place until my traveling companion’s purse with most of her cash and all her plastic was stolen. By the time we got back to Santiago and our guide helped her to call her bank and cancel her cards, the thief had already charged a bunch of stuff. It really put a damper on the rest of the trip for Geri even though I had plenty of money to get us both through all we wanted to do; and the travel insurance ultimately reimbursed all losses. The joys of being On The Road.
WaterGirl
I love getting the sense of a place from photos like this. Love all the street art. Love all the color! Houses here are all grey and tan and boring. I at least did a pretty blue-grey for my siding, which by the way appears to be the perfect backdrop for flowers of any color. (It’s better to be lucky than good.)
MelissaM
That first house with all the belongings on the sidewalk is a good fake out! I love colorful buildings. This was a fun visit, thanks.
Albatrossity
Beautiful art! And I even recognized some of the birds!
SkyBluePink
What a wonderful, colorful, creative place ( and photos)
BigJimSlade
I think I would be walking into power poles looking at all the walls, lol.
stinger
What an interesting city! Love all the public art and personal creativity. I’d like to walk that long cobblestone street — it looks comfortable, as if people really live there. Great photos; thanks!
way2blue
@Elma:
Definitely put a cloud over her travels. Ugh. I’ve tried to develop my ‘spidey’ sense when traveling. I have a small pack I can rotate to my front when it triggers. But also. A friend of mine had just arrived in Brussels, jet lagged. Evening walk. When a man came up to him & asked the time. When my friend pulled out his mobile phone—it was snatched from his hand…
way2blue
@MelissaM:
Reminded me of any college town at the end of the school year…
RobArt
Great pics, I enjoyed both days! I have a useful travel tip for anyone who ever wants to visit. I have such fond memories of Santiago and Valparaiso from a few years back — definitely on my list of places I’d rather live than the United States (if it were as simple as wishing). Santiago is clean, modern, walkable, full of parks, a beautiful city. Valparaiso is grungy, run down, real, and inspiring. And a seaside town, curved and elevated facing the beautiful Pacific. Rooftop meals there are unforgettable. And of course the murals and graffiti are everywhere. Oh! Also visit the Pablo Neruda house. I’m an artist so I was very glad we took the time to add Valpo to our travels.
We easily added a day in Valparaiso to our existing travel plans with very little extra expense or time lost. The long flight from the US arrived early in the morning. Our lodging in Santiago was not available until mid afternoon. The airport is quite a distance outside Santiago, in the direction of Valparaiso. I found a bus (Santiago has a great metro but the airport and Valpo are outside the range) from the airport to Valparaiso. We were intrigued by Valparaiso already and we saved time and money going straight from the airport. We had rested well on our flight, fortunately. We arrived in Valpo, put our luggage in check, and enjoyed a full day touring this quirky and charming city. We caught another bus back into Santiago in time for check in and dinner in Santiago that night. *IF* your flight arrival time is also early AM I highly recommend adding a visit to Valparaiso this way.
StringOnAStick
I had a ginger pisco sour in Punta Arenas that I remember fondly, and excellent modern bistro dining thanks to smart phone searches. Loved Chile and Argentina, excellent travel destinations.