New Continents - Part 3

 

Day two in Santiago, I snapped this picture just before we headed out for the day on a tour of Valparaiso, which is a port city of historical note on the Pacific Ocean, around 120km from Santiago. The photo shows the "Gran Torre Santiago", the tallest building in South America (as opposed to Latin America, there's a taller one in Mexico) it's 300m tall and was built in 2014, you can see it from pretty much everywhere in the city. The construction is particularly ambitious since, being on the Pacific "ring of fire", means that  Chile is very prone to earthquakes, the last one in Santiago was a 3.9 magnitude quake in October 2025 and they get around 50+ events every year here! You can also see some of the bigger mountains surrounding the city in this shot.

In the photo above is Valparaiso port and bay, the city was founded in 1536 by Spanish explorers and later in 1578 was attacked by Francis Drake in his ship the Golden Hind, however the city grew to prominence in the 19th century as sailing ships stopped here after rounding South America via the Straights of Magellan and Cape Horn. The golden era of the city came around the 1850's when supplies were needed by ships heading up to the California gold rush, it became a major sea port at this time and many people from all over Europe came to make their fortunes. This can be seen in the architecture of the place, it's a mix of new and old like most cities but some of the old buildings look like they could have been lifted directly from Paris, London, Bavaria or even Florence.

In the photo above is a monument to the Heroes of Iquique, an important naval battle between the forces of Chile and Peru in 1879, below the monument is a crypt that contains the remains of senior figures who died in the battles. Note the very "French" looking Government building behind the monument, this is typical of the city, such a mixture of building styles, so far from their origins. During it's golden era the city was known as "Little San Francisco", I can understand why as it sprawls out over several steep hills that lead down to the coast and the port. Like San Francisco the city suffers from earth quakes, being near the Peru-Chile Trench it is vulnerable, a big quake struck in 1906, estimated at 8.2 it killed over 3000 people and the city had to be substantially re-built. 

The golden era of the city came to a crashing end in 1914 when the Panama canal opened, ships no longer needed to risk the long and dangerous rounding of "the Horn" and trade in the port declined sharply and wealthy trading families left for Santiago and richer pickings. By the early 1990s much of the unique heritage had been lost and many people had given up on the city however, in the mid-90s a grassroots preservation movement blossomed and communities of artists took up residence in the run-down labyrinth of cobbled streets.

The city is well known now as a haven for street artists, musicians and writers the walls of most of the buildings are covered in art, much of it very high quality and political in nature (featuring Elon Musk and Donald Trump). These artists use these walls as advertisements for their work, many have gone on to be commissioned to do larger or more prestigious works in cities around the world. I've stitched together a few examples to illustrate this, see below.

We stopped for lunch in Valparaiso and went to a local restaurant suggested by our guide, it was amazing, a panoramic view of the city and bay with beautifully presented food, excellent wine and so, so cheap! We had three courses and drinks for around £20 a head, I had a really tasty fresh ceviche (we were by the seaside after all!) with avocado (see below)

On the way back from the coast we had to drive through the Casablanca Valley, this is a well known wine growing region and so we couldn't resist stopping off for a little afternoon wine tasting (our guide was driving!) We visited a producer called "Re" who specialised in fermenting  their wines in large concrete foudres rather than stainless steel tanks, there were some interesting blends on offer, both red and white. Having worked our way through a flight of wines and having walked around 10k in Valparaiso everyone was keen for a little knap in the van, it took an hour or so to get back to Santiago, just in time for a shower and change of clothes then out for a few beers at Honest Mike's (renamed by us to "Magic Mike's") then dinner!

Our last day in Santiago loomed, we wanted to explore the city, do a few select museums and then dine at a recommend restaurant that specialised in Chilean wines, it was another jam-packed day, more in the next part.