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ANTARCTICA / SOUTH AMERICA - DAY 24 - VALPARAISO, VINA DEL MAR |
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Blogs: Day 1-2 Iguazu and Itapu | Day 3-4-5 Buenos Aires | Day 6-8 Falklands | Day 10-14 Antarctica | Day 15-16 Ushuaia | Day 17 Punta Arenas - Patagonia | Day 21-23 Santiago | Day 24 Valparaiso
Click on pictures for larger version |
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| We took a day trip to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar, two cities right next to each other on the coast. This is a vacation destination for Chileans. Vina Del Mar is the new city with new buildings and rich mansions, whereas Valparaiso is much older with historical buildings. | |
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 This is one of only 3 statues that have ever been removed from Easter Island. Why? Easter Island is part of Chile!! Who knew? It's 2000 miles offshore. |
 This is a flower clock donated by the Swiss (big surprise). It is a working clock but the hands were removed because of the protests, they didn't want them damaged.
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 Talk about fresh, straight off the boat! |
 Next we visited a fish market
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 And these are the boats the fishermen use... |
 They wheel them up the jetty and drop them in the water using cranes. |
| In Vina del Mar they do not believe in any "free" social welfare and have a 0% unemployment rate. Basically, you want to eat - you gotta work! Sweep trash, volunteer at a museum, welcome tourists - it doesn't matter. The only people exempt are those that actually have spent their whole life working and are now pensioners (old farts 65 +). Both Valparaiso and Vina del Mar ONLY utilize locals for their thriving fishing industry and will not allow commercial chains into their city. | |
 Seagulls and Sea Lions come to the party! |
 The beaches are not that pretty and the water is a very cool 60 degrees! in summer! |
 They have a smaller version of Arc de Triomphe donated by the British (????) Go figure? |
 The city is know for its wall murals. Many artists come here to express themselves. |
 The town is very hilly, built on 42 hills to be exact and each is a suburb with it's own name.
Like everywhere else in Chile there are stray dogs everywhere. The locals do feed them but sadly few people pick up the "land mines". |
 Even the main staircases are painted |
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The town has several vernaculars dating back to the late 1800s in
order to get up and down the steep slopes.
We then finished the day off by stopping at a winery on the way back for a quick wine tasting. |
We had lunch at this hilltop restaurant.
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And finally...
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Is it wine? Is is a beer? Still not sure... But is it totally YUMMY!!!
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OK, it seems that if you eat McDonald's in Santiago (the capitol city), you are going to immediately need a pharmacy - so there is conveniently one RIGHT THERE! |
