Day Trippin´

Jamie, Meaghan and I quickly set out for Valparaiso, a port city almost due west of Santiago. It was my first time to the city and we found it deserted due to national elections, which are interestingly held on Sunday - I don´t have a reason for that being interesting, but it is for me.

Valparaiso is built into very large hills, thus making it known for it´s funinculars, or boxes that take you up the hills.



We found a great hostel, one of Pablo Neruda´s houses (which was of course closed due to elections), and simply walked a lot around the city. It also houses the Congress, which Pinochet moved out of Santiago so that he could essentially have full control of the capital. The Congress building is on a spot where Pinochet had a childhood home.



J and Mea looking out of hostel room. Jamie hiding in the wall. We kind of went crazy with the camera!








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Some sights around Valpo.







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Early the following day we headed south on the coast to Isla Negra, which is mainly known for having another Pablo Neruda house, the one at which he mainly lived. Although technically closed, we got a private tour around the grounds thanks to some workers. We didn´t get to go inside the house, but it was still great. We then hung out on the beach before catching other buses back toward Santiago.



Neruda´s Isla Negra house. He collected crazy amounts of things. About 1/3 of the house was simply storage space for collectibles.



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Jamie inspecting Neruda´s infamous nariz. Some seaweed. And some sisters.





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Also on the day we found out that the elections were quite inconclusive. No single candidate won 50% or more of the vote, so a run-off election is slotted for January 15. Bachelet, the leading lady since day 1, had about 45% of the vote with her socialist party, followed by Piñera, a conservative, with about 25%. That seems like the run-off will be an obvious win for Bachelet, but the support from the other conservative Lavín will presumably go Piñera, and perhaps the 5% or so from Hirsch, a green candidate for most practical purposes, will go to Bachelet. It´ll be interesting.

Oh yeah, but the girls and I finished the day at Pomaire, a tiny town renowned for its pottery goods. It was cool and we got some gifts before catching a crazily packed bus back to Santiago. The 60 or so kilometers took several hours.