Chile – Valparaíso and Viña del Mar

We continue our trip up the coast with Mitch, Andrew and Canaan. Valparaíso is an old port town with steep hills that wrap around the bay. Viña del Mar’s character is totally opposite. Where Valpo is a working port city, just around the corner, Viña is a tourist destination.

View of Valparaíso’s hills

This picture is an old one from 1966, but shows a pretty good view of the port city as it wraps around the bay.

Took a break from driving across from the old Valparaíso cemetery.

Time was running late so we passed through Valparaíso straight to Viña, where we had a bite to eat at a fun little restaurant in the downtown mercado, serenaded by a fellow with guitar and pan flute.

Each year Viña has a world renowned international music festival, ‘Festival de Viña’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi%C3%B1a_del_Mar_International_Song_Festival. It takes place in a large outdoor amphitheater within the Quinta Vergara https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_Vergara. We got there a couple months prior to the festival, so you can see there was a lot of work to be done to get it in shape

The previous picture showed the reserved section, but behind that is a huge section of concrete ‘seats’ for the masses.

View of the Arena opening. Not sure if the metal poles floating above are for decoration or acoustics.

The festival is held in February each year, which is the middle of summer in Chile. In 2015 it is usually broadcast in the US on NBC Universo. Note that the festival was cancelled in 2010 when a huge 8.8 earthquake hit during the festival. Fortunately the amphitheater held up quite well, but the Palacio Vergara didn’t do so well. It’s now closed for some $8 million in renovations, but unknown when it will be finished.