This week we went to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, which are about 70 miles from Santiago. Valparaiso used to be a major port before the Panama Canal was built, but since that time it has become quite poor. But don’t get me wrong you can see in the picture they still have some business happening there. When the port was booming they built a town 5 miles north of Valparaiso called Vina del Mar to be their resort town. Today Vina del Mar still offers beaches and a tourist destination, while Valparaiso is mainly a port town with a ton of history.
The view from a hill in Vina del Mar
This is a clock made of flowers native to the area. We are not quite sure what was so popular about this clock, but every time we walked by it there was a crowd of people taking pictures.
A picture of Vina del Mar and the “river” that runs through it. The only thing is that sand in the picture blocks the river from the ocean so it is more like a lake since it has no where to run.
The Pacific Ocean here still has the same characteristics as the Pacific Ocean in Mexico or the U.S. It has big rocks and the water is very cold. The first day we went to the beach there were not many waves, but we could watch the kids and see there was a strong undertow. The second day the waves were a lot stronger. On this day people kept finding jellyfish in the water. They would catch the jellyfish using a towel (and later a net), carry it on the beach, 100 people would gather around to see it, and then they would bury it in the sand. This happened at least 5 times in the 2 hours we were at the beach. The jellyfish were pretty big too, about 12 inches in diameter.
This is the Bay of Valparaiso. As you can see it is still quite busy. I would hate to see how busy it was before the Panama Canal.
They have many houses with character in Valparaiso.
Between Valparaiso and Santiago lies the Casablanca Valley where many vineyards are located. This is just a portion of the valley covered in rows of grapes.
The view from a hill in Vina del Mar
This is a clock made of flowers native to the area. We are not quite sure what was so popular about this clock, but every time we walked by it there was a crowd of people taking pictures.
A picture of Vina del Mar and the “river” that runs through it. The only thing is that sand in the picture blocks the river from the ocean so it is more like a lake since it has no where to run.
The Pacific Ocean here still has the same characteristics as the Pacific Ocean in Mexico or the U.S. It has big rocks and the water is very cold. The first day we went to the beach there were not many waves, but we could watch the kids and see there was a strong undertow. The second day the waves were a lot stronger. On this day people kept finding jellyfish in the water. They would catch the jellyfish using a towel (and later a net), carry it on the beach, 100 people would gather around to see it, and then they would bury it in the sand. This happened at least 5 times in the 2 hours we were at the beach. The jellyfish were pretty big too, about 12 inches in diameter. 
This is the Bay of Valparaiso. As you can see it is still quite busy. I would hate to see how busy it was before the Panama Canal.
They have many houses with character in Valparaiso.
Between Valparaiso and Santiago lies the Casablanca Valley where many vineyards are located. This is just a portion of the valley covered in rows of grapes.
1 comment:
Sweet stuff! It looks so wonderful there! What was the temperature like...looks sunny, I'm sure you were getting some cold winds from that Pacific Coast though. So I looked up the Vina del Mar place, says they have casinos!!! Yea!! Olivia loves her some casinos!!! But it also said that it is known as the garden city and that the clock is made of the flowers to represent, I guess, that nickname?!?! Weird. I think the Panama Canal has about two or three ships pass though each day but many docked and waiting, I know it has to go through like a crazy hydrolic system to get through, I can't even begin to imagine all those boats in that little port on the picture. Oh and the countryside looked so wonderful....are you soaking it up as you ride though? I always f-ing fall asleep on the trains in Europe and miss half the damn country side and then I get all mad at myself. Oh and a polar bear in Germany had a new cub!! Did you see that in the news? It is so so so cute, makes me want to snuggle, makes me want to snuggle with you two!! hee. xoxox I'm going to read the rest of your blogs now....sorry if this was too long, I bet you are regretting the day you opened it up so I could post comments!
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