Been hanging around this town for so long

We are still enjoying our Spanish class, and have spent time sight seeing around the city in between studying.  Spanish is hard.

We visited the National History Museum and enjoyed the small, but interesting galleries.

This is a traditional piece of clothing for some of the indigenous people here in Chile.

Chile's recent history was tumultuous and we learned much about the politics here during the dictatorship of Pinochet.

One of the former presidents of Chile was known for walking his Great Dane around the city.  This Great Dane, Ulk, is stuffed and on display in the museum.

We took a field trip to visit all of the local markets with our Spanish teacher, Miguel.

El gato duerme.

 

We took the Saturday morning bus from Santiago to Valparaiso for an overnight stay. Quacker Jack is ready to roll.

Need to buy fruit, but don't have time to visit the store?  Just buy some at the toll booth on the way!

We found Valparaiso to be a very photographic city with historic buildings and lots...I mean LOTS of street art.

The city is full of hills, cerros, and there are funiculars to make the trip up easier.  We rode in several during our stay.  This is looking down from the top.

Now a few photos of the murals and streets:

Quacker Jack at the top of Cerro Alegre.

Some of the best street performers I've ever seen.

This fellow popped his head out of the window just as we were walking by and scared the bejeebus out of me.  Good thing he was friendly.

J enjoyed an  empanada purchased from the surly fellows working inside this store.

Murals. Everywhere.

Even the sushi restaurant has a mural.

Quacker Jack with Valparaiso in the background

The Armada headquarters in Valparaiso

Fishing boats turned tour boats

We took this funicular on our walking tour on Sunday morning.

This building is from the "Golden Age" of Valparaiso (during the mid 1800s).  The tour company has an office in this space now and hopes to return the building to its former grandeur.

Heading back to Santiago on the bus

We were surprised to see how clear it was when we arrived back home.  See the snow-capped Andes in the background?

Not a bad place to call home while out of town.