DOUG’S RETIREMENT TRAVEL BLOG

Stayed close to home, strolled the neighboring hills: Concepción & Panteón: Walked 5.4 miles.

Ventured out, in an Uber, to a town 7 miles south of Valparaiso, on a beach with a lagoon similar to Stinson. We got dropped off at the highway, and walked the mile or so to the beach. On the way we passed by this place "Restaurant Galleon', and this guy coming the other way told us (in spanish), if we were looking for lunch, this was the place. He was right; it was excellent and fun: On to the beach. Beautiful, coarse sand, crystal clear water, blue skies, the obligatory

Walked around the point to the south, to Bario Playa Ancha. But on the way we passed by the Palacio Astoreca Hotel, looks like a nice place to stay: ...and stopped into Centro Cultural Banco Estado, which appears to be a bank building recently renovated with a museum on the top floor, accessible from Paseo Yugoslavo (one of the promoenades on the north side of Cerros Allegre & Conceptión with views of the sea to the north): To get to Playa Ancha, you walk past the commercial

Back to Viña del Mar. First stop - Palacio Carrasco, the Rodin sculpture La Défense: La Défense Past Parroquia Virgen del Carmen: to the Palacio Rioja, the inside of which is preserved as the family lived in it in the early 20th century: Walked to the Barrio Parroquia, Parque Quinta Verdara. In the park is the Museo Palacio Vergara, an art museum: There was a sort of craft fair underway, I got a perfectly bitchin' shirt. Took the guy 2 weeks to make it, and 5 minutes to ex

Went out shopping by myself in the AM. Two things: guitar player i'd seen a few times: …and a slogan we'd heard at one of the wineries, guess it's wide spread - 'Good, Pretty and Cheap': Good, Pretty, Cheap Took the train to Viña del Mar, walked a bunch saw a horse race track, stopped for coffee at the outside cafe at Palacio Rioja: On the way back to the train station: Calle Quillota, Viña Del Mar Back in Valparaiso, a guy playing drums. Everything else canned, but he was

Today we took a tour out to the closest wine country, Casablanca. It's about an hour drive from Valparaiso. The tour operator was 'To Penguins', this guy Jimmy who lives most of the time in Latvia of all places but is from this area so comes back for the summer seasons to run tours. He was a kick, it was great. 3 wineries, all fantastic. I'd gotten a less than great impression of Chilean wines at an enoteca in Santiago, but this reversed it - what we tried was every bit

19th - Around Cerros Alegre & Cordillera: 20th - Decided to walk to the beach partway to Viña Del Mar. the walk took us through Barón: Barón And the Federico Santa María Technical University: No beach pics...walked 3.1 & 6.5 miles.

Lunch at a local spot, on the Plaza Anibal Pinto, at the bottom of our hill - La Nueva Buena Mesa. Nice folk, edible food, inexpensive. A taste of local: Coffee at our favorite, WIP, on Dimalow: Our hostess Maria sent us a message saying there would be a party in the ballroom downstairs and we were welcome to come. There would be an opportunity to tango. We went; turned out to be a gathering of the local tango club: In the ballroom, Lautaro Rosa 449 Walked 2.7 miles.

Today I walked downtown to pick up some groceries by myself, while Leslie did her Spanish & yoga (which we’ve both been religious about. I’m generally up by 6 so I get a jump on it). It was fun: Back home…here’s how we dry the laundry: On the walk to the train, stopped for lunch in the neighborhood at Poesía de Sabor - excellent: The Cerro Castillo section of Viña Del Mar (overlooking the beach): Spent a couple hours on the beach there, no photos…on the train back home: Trai

Today we took a bus out to Concón to climb the dunes. Fortunately we accidentally got one that took us to the back side, from whch the climb was only 1/3 that of the front side. Thought I’d capture a bus stop. This stop was longer than most, but shows all the misc that goes on: Viña Del Mar bus stop on the 608 From the top: Concón Dunes Waiting for the bus to take us back: Walked 3.9 miles.

Nothing happened on the 14th. Walked 1.2 miles. Huh. 15th, we went to the Museo Del Immigrante. Quite an extensive history of the development of the city from the mid-19th century. Must see! We spent a good four hours there: Diagrams in the museum Film in the museum Part of the museum complex, you took an elevator to an observation room built on top of the old building. The building circled in the 3rd photo is where we are staying: The museum building was originally a sc

Today we took the far more sedate Metro to Viña Del Mar, just across the bay: It's a smaller, much more well-maintained town than Valparaiso, kind of a day or weekend getaway for Valparaiso residents with a bit of cash. Some sections were remeniscent of California suburbs: clean streets with even sidewalks. Lots of nice parks: There is a famous history museum there, Museo Fonck. We spent a few hours there. In front there's an actual figure from Rapa Nui (Easter Island): [

Sunday. Stuck around town... A cruise ship, the 'Silver Endeavor', arrived in the AM, kinda fun watching it maneuver in: Silver Endeavor Up Ascensor El Peral with a crowd of Australians. There's been less english in the air here than anywhere else we've been btw (although Australian is borderline :-). Funny story, an experience I have had myself: Ascensor Peral Our house has a fantastic, huge garden, tended lovingly, although a bit hap hazardly, by the family. Nice place

Today we took a jitney bus out to Concón, a small surfing town 3 towns up the coast to the north. It’s a 1-hour bus ride: Lots of surfers & their gear & shops: The surfing seemed pretty good. I dipped feet into the water, it’s comparable temp to Santa Cruz, maybe a bit colder. Theee are also outriggers and horses: Concón We walked a ways back along the coast toward Renaca, Viña Del Mar and Valparaiso: Along the way there are huge sand dunes, visible from our apt in Valparaiso

Today the Chilean Navy Training ship Esmerelda arrived in port: There is often a bird show playing out outside our window, sometimes with seagulls, sometimes with these: I think I've shown already, there's a little playground with a slide at the top of Ascensor Reina Victoria. Here it is with an adult: Here's the ascensor ride up: Street art on Cerro Barón, across town to the east from us: The nighttime scene before our door: We walked 6.1 miles.

Today it was foggy & cold. The only thing we ventured out for was the Museo Municipal de Belles Artes-Palacio Baburizza - the municipal fine arts museum. It is housed in a beautiful 19th century villa built by a Croatian immigrant: Walked a mere 1.9 miles.

When the fog rolls in, it stays for the day. Like SF, temp Is 10deg lower on those days. Out the Apt window 7-8am: This place is known for sourcing sustainably caught fish. Quite good too: Caught another one of these: Walked to Cerro Artilleria above the port, to the Museo Marítimo Nacional. Beautiful building, but honestly somewhat underwhelming contents: Bumped into our hostess out front. She’s a piano teacher. She was waiting for a pupil, who is the daughter of a good frie

Another beautiful day, we did a walking tour - the 'offbeat' tour by https://tours4tips.com/es/valparaiso-tours/ . It was good. It actually started through Barrio Puerto, which I posted about yesterday - didn't take more pics. The guide fenagled the key to the rooftop of the market, had some nice views from up there. Highlight: we took one of the local city jitney busses up into the hills. Mr Toad's wild ride. The dock workers were striking for better pay & conditions,

This AM we wanted to explore Barrio Puerto, the port district, the oldest part of Valparaiso. The walk through Cerro Alegre on the way there - art museum, residents taking a break, the building housing Circular, a restaurant I’ve talked about, dunno, and a glass cube in the direction of the port: The port district is kind of skid row. A UNESCO site, meaning they can’t improve it. The original central market was destroyed by an earthquake; the city rebuilt it, but people haven

Big day today, better sit down. A thousand drums. A festival with participants from all over S. America. Quite remarkable; started...