Go forth and explore!

After a somewhat discouraging day of trying to find a place to call home, we decided that Sunday September 7 would be a day to explore. The castle in the background is called Castillo Brunet, and that would be our first destination.

We walked through the neighborhood of Recreo and up Cerro Castillo (Castle Hill). It was a beautiful neighborhood and there is definitely $$$$ in them thar hills!

We had hoped that the castle would be open to visitors, but it is apparently a summer retreat for the local constabulary. Oh well, it's the journey and not the destination, right?!

This is the gate.

Next stop . . . Valparaiso and back to Victoria Plaza. It`s the place we spoke of in an earlier posting where the tiles on the ground create an illusion of rising and falling. Anyway, being Sunday and family day, there were activities in the park. This appeared to be a traditional dance competition.

This is video of what we believe is the Cueca (pronounced quaeka) dance. "After the excitement of a rodeo, a hearty meal of beef and beans is knocked back with red wine. Then out from the pockets come the handkerchiefs for the cueca, Chile's national dance. The cueca is an integral part of the event, and a huaso (cowboy) is not roundly accomplished if his cuban healed boots don't do a coordinated stomp. To begin, the cueca, the man first advances toward his female partner in a courting fashion. She, keeping her distance, establishes the pattern of pursuer and pursued. As the courting continues, both partners hold their handkerchiefs aloft and flick them about as they step in a smooth shuffling manner. The dance must be accompanied by festive music and a crowd of clapping onlookers. Chileans believe even the devil himself can't help but uncrumple his scarf and join in with a young senorita!" - "Insight Guides / Chile and Easter Island"

The plaza is in the centre of town, and as you know by now, Valparaiso is built on several hills. Our next task was to find a restaurant that we had visited a few nights before. Up the hill and into the maze of winding narrow streets we went only to be disappointed. But remember . . . it`s all about the journey! From the Cerro Constitucion (Constitution Hill), we spotted two ancient looking cemetaries of interest, but of course, they were on a different hill. The most direct route down the hill also turned out to be pretty dodgy looking for two gringos with a camera but we forged on and obviously. . . . we made it. Once up on the next hill, we saw an ascensor (tram) that we could have taken and avoided the worst of the questionable neighborhood! Too late smart, but no harm done!

The shots of the ascensor also give an indication of the neighborhood. There are some lovely homes / buildings but most are in pretty poor shape.

We would love to be able to show you pictures of the cemetaries but there were "NO PHOTOGRAPHS" signs posted. They are very different from what we are used to. Imagine a 10 or 12 foot deep hole, about 8ft. X 4ft. with a concrete or brick building on top (about 3ft. high) It would seem that eventually, the entire family would be put into this grave. Some plots were very elaborate with stone angels etc. while others were quite plain.

The end of the day brought supper near the hotel back in Viña del Mar and a Pacific Ocean sunset that we won`t soon forget.

And a slightly different shot!

Random notes:

The grocery store is now a regular routine and also a learning experience. Soup is not sold in cans here, only in bags or cardboard pouches and seems to be high in salt. Speaking of grocery stores, we have now found a conveyor belt that actually works! We have mentioned this before but are always amazed . . . the milk and eggs are not refrigerated. Charlene also stumbled upon an unexpected slice of home . . . some Safeway brand products.

Details on how the apartment search turned out in the next post . . . stay tuned!

Until next time,

Love,

Norm and Charlene