Today is our last day in South America. ☹️
We had breakfast and then headed to Valparaiso, about 1 1/2 hour drive from Santiago. Valparaiso is on the coast and is dominated by hills, San Francisco type hills. It’s known for its steep funiculars and colorful, clifftop homes. It got foggier and foggier as we got closer to Valparaiso.
We decided to visit Neruda’s Valparaiso house first, hoping that the weather would improve while we were in the house. I liked it better than Neruda’s Santiago house because I felt like I got a better sense of the man. It was actually three houses blended together. Pictures of the interior were not allowed however here’s a picture of the view of colorful houses from Neruda’s home.
After leaving there we headed towards Cerros Concepción and Alegre to see the colorful houses and graffiti. We wandered for awhile, just taking in the grafitti. There was grafitti everywhere you looked. Also there were interestingly decorated houses.
Here’s picture of just some of the graffiti.
Here are pictures of the area.
We had a wonderful lunch in a small restaurant that we just wandered into. After a late lunch we headed back to the car.
Our flight didn’t leave until 9:50 so we had some time to kill. We decided we would stop in winery in the Casablanca valley. A cool climate and temperatures that vary greatly from day to night have made this valley halfway between Santiago and Valparaíso one of Chile’s best regions for fruity Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs and Pinots. Randomly we picked a winery called Viña Indomita. We were lucky and got a private tour of the winery from a very nice young man who’s English was great and who was studying to be an industrial engineer. We learned a lot. Here are a couple of pictures of the winery.
After the tour we tasted the wine. Here are the labels of the wine we tasted.
It had been a wonderful day but now it was time to head to the airport. We had no trouble finding the airport or returning the car. However at the airport I opened my suitcase to get some pants out for the trip home and the zipper on my suitcase broke. Luckily I was able to get it shrink wrapped and even luckier TSA didn’t feel the need to open it. We flew all night to Atlanta. Unfortunately neither of us slept much. Then we headed home to Boston. Vacation is over. Good news is the next one is about a month away!