Writings By Date| Strutting through Valparaíso and Viña del Mar | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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| Tugboat, Anyone? |
We walked over to the port and took pity on the giant cruise ship anchored right there. (In case it's not obvious by now, we have little respect for the types of people that travel on these things.) All around it were colorful tugboats and short-distance shuttle boats, no doubt used for carrying tourists from here to Viña del Mar just a few kilometers up the coast. At the entrance to the harbor in the distance, we could make out a handful of Navy battleships, which were most impressive to look at.
Leaving the port, we walked a few blocks to one of the more attractive funiculars, Ascensor Artilleria, just to get some pictures of it. Strange that the most picturesque funicular happens to be in one of the shittier neighborhoods, but the streets that cut through all the warehouses and storage shelters were pretty much abandoned at this time of day.
Still, we had no desire to spend much time here, so we returned to Sotomayor, rounded the corner to where all the courthouses are (ideally named Plaza Justicia), and hopped on Ascensor El Peral, taking it to the top of Cerro Alegre. We were the only passengers on the car, and as I went through the turnstyle, I got the impression from the man taking our 70 pesos each (US$0.10) that he must have the most boring job in the world. I'd be amazed if more than one person came through here in an hour, especially since the main attraction at the top — the Museum of Fine Arts — was closed for renovations.
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| Great Place for a Car Chase |
We survived the rickety ride to the top, and left trying very hard not to look too closely at the equipment, for fear of never wanting to ride one of these things again. The views of the city from atop this one of many hills was excellent. The plethora of collectivos combed the streets below us, as we watched the activity revolving around the port and main plaza. We took a few pictures, then followed the road along the edge of the hill, and along a narrow sloping alley, lined with narrow pedestrian stairways. Past the alley and halfway down the block was a "throughway" — a stairway that cut straight down through the buildings, meeting up with the same street about 100 meters later, on the other side of a tight, steep corner. It looked like something that came straight off the streets of San Francisco.
