From the Santiago airport, we took an airport bus to the Pajaritos bus station. It was the lunch hour and the bakery where we intended to grab lunch was a madhouse. We had to take a number. When our number was called, we ordered. They gave us a receipt and we stood in line to pay. Once we had paid, they called our number when the food was ready. The place was emptying out by the time we got our empanadas, so we were able to find a place to sit and eat.
Lunch out of the way, we took another bus to Valparaiso, about 90 minutes west. The road passed through an agricultural area and we could see some of the orchards that grow the fruit that Chile exports. They were also growing corn and vegetables.
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| Art on Our Street in Valparaiso |
Upon our arrival in Valparaiso, we took an Uber to our apartment. The place was in a hillside neighborhood filled with street art. Down the hill and around the corner were plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants. We had two rooms plus the bath. The bedroom had two beds and the kitchen/living room had a table with chairs, a sofa, and another bed. It wasn’t very attractive, but was comfortable enough for $40/night. Our landlord, Hernan, was very helpful and gave us a map of the city which he annotated in great detail.
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| Valparaiso Waterfront |
I was exhausted after too many days with very little sleep. I slept for several hours. Then we went out for a quick walk down to the waterfront to determine whether or not we needed a transit card (We did not. A credit card would work.) and then stopped for dinner on our way back. Sally had rice with vegetables salteado and I had chorrillana, a pile of french fries topped with a slice of pot roast and two fried eggs. The chorrillana was delicious.
By this point, I had to admit that I was probably coming down with something. We went home and I took an antiviral and sat down to write. My nap and dinner had revived me somewhat and I wrote until 23:30.
My antivirals contain an antihistamine that really knocks me out. I slept until 8:00. We got up and passed a leisurely morning. I sent a load of laundry off with the landlord. We headed down to the Plaza Sotomayor about 10:00. The plaza was filled with market stalls. We were hungry and, after exploring the area, settled on a coffee shop fronting the square where we had nice coffees, eggs, and toast. We finished just in time to join a walking tour at noon.
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| The Navy Building in Valparaiso |
Our guide, Krishna, showed us the navy building and explained how the waterfront had been filled in over the centuries. There was originally water where the Plaza Sotomayor is located, today. She then took us to a cooperative art gallery called La Escala located in a former large home. I was taken with a nude made from a mosaic of wine corks.
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| Image Made from Wine Corks |
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| The Port Market |
We then visited the port market, just starting to be revived after it was partially destroyed by an earthquake. Currently, only the first floor is ready for occupancy, but our guide was able to take us up to the roof where we had a 360 degree view of Valparaiso. After decades of abandonment and neglect, the old downtown of Valparaiso has been included in the Unesco World Heritage Site and is starting to receive the funds necessary to renovate it. The buildings, such as the former stock exchange, are ornate and beautiful, but are dirty and often covered with graffiti.
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| The Stock Exchange |
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| Was This Safe? |
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| Sally Posing with Jack |
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| "Island" House |
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| Cruise Ship House |
After walking back through the plaza, we took a funicular to the top of Cerro Concepcion. Here, we found narrow streets brimming with murals. Colorful houses dangled from the slopes of steep hills, some of which looked rather unsafe. Houses perched on a hill without street access were called “island” houses and had to be sold furnished because moving in and out was too difficult. There were also “cruise ship” houses wedged into narrow lots between two streets that looked like the bow of a ship.
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| Palacio Balburizza |
Krishna ended her tour at the Palacio Balburizza. Once a private home, it is now a fine arts museum. After the tour, Sally and I visited the museum. The palace was a work of art in itself and featured elaborate fireplaces and the first bathroom with hot water in Valparaiso. Perched on the edge of the hill, nearly every room had an amazing view.
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| Views from Every Room |
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| Bathroom with First Hot Water in Valparaiso |
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| Fabulous Fireplaces |
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| Colorful New Flats in our Neighborhood |
I was starting to flag by the time we left the museum. We took a long staircase down to the port level and tried to visit the tourist information office, but found it closed at 16:00. We then walked uphill towards our apartment, stopping for a cold drink along the way. We bought empanadas for dinner at a local empanada factory and then trudged up the steep hill to our place where I found my clean and mostly dry laundry piled in a tangled heap on the bed in our living room. I had to fold everything before I could put it away. Then I was able to sit down and try to catch up on my writing.
January 16, 2026
Comarca Valparaiso
Valparaiso, Chile
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| Downtown Viña del Mar |
We wanted an easier day than we had had of late, so we decided to take the bus to Viña del Mar. Originally a vineyard by the sea and later the favored location for the wealthy to build palatial estates, Viña del Mar is now an affluent and modern suburb of Valparaiso. We caught the 607 bus from near our apartment and rode it all the way to the Plaza Vergara in Viña del Mar. We ate breakfast in a German restaurant near the plaza and then paid a visit to the tourist information office after it opened at 10:00.
We had been chasing tourist information offices for days, hoping to find tours that would take us to sites outside of Valparaiso. Every office we came upon was closed. This one was open, but only offered information about Viña del Mar. They were, however, friendly and gave us a nice map of the city, which helped us to formulate a plan for the day.
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| Palacio Vergara |
We started our visit with a visit to the magnificent Palacio Vergara, which housed a large collection of fine art. The building was exquisite and made an excellent gallery.
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| Palacio Vergara Interior |
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| Carved Mammoth Tusk |
We then strolled down Álvarez to the flower clock where characters in costume were posing for pictures with children. We crossed the street to the beach and strolled along the coast until we came to the river.
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| Castillo Wulff |
After using the facilities at McDonald’s, we turned inland and followed leafy streets to the Palacio Carrasco. This, too, was closed for renovation.
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| Palacio Carrasco |
A few blocks further along, we came upon the Palacio Rioja, which housed the Museum of Decorative Arts. The palace was in excellent condition and retained its original furnishings, allowing visitors to see how the very rich had lived up until the 1940s. Every room was carefully decorated with incredible detail. The Art Nouveau tiles in the bathroom were amazing.
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| The Palacio Rioja |
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| Art Nouveau Bathroom at Palacio Rioja |
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| Dining Room at Palacio Rioja |
We were starting to flag by that point in the afternoon, so we headed back to Avenida Libertad and followed it to the Viña del Mar metro station. We took the train to the port and, once again, went in search of the tourist information office. This time, it was open and the woman working there was very friendly and helpful. She couldn’t offer us any tours out of town, but she did give us enough ideas for things to do to keep us busy in Valparaiso.
We ate dinner in the food court of the port shopping mall and then stopped into the mall’s grocery store for some snack and breakfast items. We trudged back along the waterfront to our street and up the hill. All told, we had walked about 6.5 miles, not too bad considering I still felt a little under the weather.
January 18, 2026
Comarca Valparaiso
Valparaiso, Chile
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| The Ascensor Was Out of Service |
Our mission for the day was to visit the National Maritime Museum, which sits on a bluff overlooking the port in the complex that once housed the naval academy. The heroic captain of the Esmeralda, Arturo Prat, became a cadet there at the age of ten.
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| We Took the Stairs |
Still not feeling quite up to snuff, I wanted to avoid climbing the hill, so we walked to the Ascensor Artilleria, but found it had been out of order since 2024. We climbed up the steep hill, passing numerous cafés beside the stairs or located on landings.
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| The Maritime Museum |
Every mention we had made of the museum when talking to locals had met with decided disinterest and we weren’t sure what to expect. What we found was an extensive and well-curated collection of artifacts from Chile’s naval history, displayed in a gracious location.
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| Arturo Pratt as a Cadet |
A chapel-like space displayed stained glass windows of Chile’s three great naval heroes: Bernardo O’Higgins who founded Chile’s navy, Thomas Cochrane (the basis for the Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O’Brien books) who led Chile to victory in their war of independence, and Arturo Prat, the captain of the Esmeralda, sunk during the War of the Pacific. Another two windows honored the great explorers: Columbus, Magellan, Copernicus and, of all people, Neil Armstrong. Portraits of fallen naval heroes were displayed in what was called the crypt.
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| Monument to Copernicus & Armstrong |
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| The Crypt |
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| Cochrane, Pratt, and O'Higgins |
The museum displayed numerous meticulously detailed models of ships, nearly all of which were difficult to photograph because of glare on the glass cases. One of the most interesting things, in my opinion, was an early inflatable dinghy made from sea lion hide.
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Early Inflatable Dinghy
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| Grapeshot Canister |
There were many examples of torpedoes and other ordnance, including grapeshot still in its canisters. The original Fénix capsule used to rescue the thirty three Chilean miners trapped underground for sixty nine days was on display. This capsule was lowered down a borehole through 700 meters of solid rock to extract the miners one at a time. The museum was a treat for sailors and lovers of maritime history.
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| The Fenix Capsule |
We spent quite a while wandering through the extensive exhibits at the museum and then decided we needed to visit the original sailors’ bar in the port. We trooped down the stairs and eventually managed to locate Bar La Playa, in existence since 1908. The bar was crowded with memorabilia from its long life. The food was excellent. I had chupe jaiva, a sort of thick soup made with crab, tomato, cheese, and bread crumbs. They brought us fresh sopapillas and pico de gallo to munch on while we waited for our food. It was a pleasant place to hang out and was popular on a warm Saturday afternoon.
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| Bar La Playa |
After lunch, we headed for the new Museo del Inmigrante, which had been recommended to us. This museum was on top of Cerro Allegre, so we took the Ascensor Concepción to the top. Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered the entrance fee for foreigners was about $20, which seemed a little steep to us. We decided to get an ice cream instead. Then we wandered back to our apartment and I took a much needed nap before settling down to work on my blog.
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| Museo del Inmigrante |
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| Some of the Many Stairs Leading to La Sebastiana |
On our last day in Valparaiso, we wanted to see Pablo Neruda’s house, La Sebastiana, and the open air art museum, both high on a hill above our apartment. We climbed endless stairs until we finally arrived at the Barrio La Florida where La Sebastiana is located. Pablo Neruda purchased the incomplete structure because it offered views of nearly all of Valparaiso. He must have loved cats, because there were several greeting visitors to the museum, including one orange one reclining on a pillow atop a table by the entrance. Another supervised the ticket counter.
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| Greeter at La Sebastiana |
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| La Sebastiana |
The house had a small footprint and covered five floors, each with only a couple of rooms. The stairways were cramped, but the details of tile and stained glass were lovely. The views were stunning from every room. Neruda had filled the house with objects collected during his travels. It was truly an expression of his personality. He loved the sea and many of the details were nautical. The admission included an informative audio guide.
After lunch, we looked for the open air museum. We found the archways marking the beginning and end of the area and saw some lovely Gaudi-style light posts, but weren’t impressed with the quality or quantity of artwork. It almost seemed like the project had been neglected. The artwork on Concepción (and even on our street) was much more interesting.
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Piece in the Open Air Museum
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It was still pretty early, so we walked downtown to pick up some sundries for Sally and some snacks for the following day’s bus journey. Then we returned home to nap and plan our onward journey.
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| Light Post |
The museum displayed numerous meticulously detailed models of ships, nearly all of which were difficult to photograph because of glare on the glass cases. One of the most interesting things, in my opinion, was an early inflatable dinghy made from sea lion hide.
