Valparaiso, Chile

Valparaiso is another of the old Spanish cities on the Pacific coast that shows an eclectic mix of colonial Spanish architecture along side modern glass boxes, with everything in between in various stages of construction and decay. This was the Art Institute, which we did not have time to tour. Why not, given our unbusy and unhectic schedule? Some of you that have known me for the past half century may find this hard to believe, but ...



After attaining my graduation certificate from the Berlitz Spanish lessons on board (yes, I passed, and have proof!), Margie and I wandered on our own through Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. As we get further south, the use of English as a universal language of commerce and tourism has disappeared. None was detected anywhere we went. So using my vast and generally insignificant vocabulary, I managed to exchange Dollars for Pesos, and negotiate the purchase of 7 pairs of socks, one beautiful llama skin wall hanging, a pair of hand made glass earrings, a quartz rock, some souvenirs for others, and 11 skeins of alpaca yarn.

The yarn was the most challenging and most rewarding. Margie had tired and gone back to the
ship. By myself, without Margie to hold my hand, I took a bus from the port area in Valparaiso
to Vina del Mar, a higher class shopping district about 10 km north along the coast. I asked the
bus driver where I could find alpaca hilo, and was pointed in a direction with only one turn onto
Ave. Quinto. There, much to my surprise, I found a yarn shop - packed with women! All ages,
with the tallest probably just above my belly button. Feeling like Gulliver I worked my way to the counter, and was able to determine that they had different grades of alpaca yarn (none pure, most in the 10% to 25% range), see all the colors, and negotiate a price that was less than the total amount of Chilean Pesos remaining in my pocket at that time for a whole pile of the nicer and more colorful. 10,400 Pesos, which is about $16.64 USD. So I’m quite proud of myself (and
also quite honest about my inability to actually survive on my own), and we’re on our way to
Puerto Montt.

A note about pictures. For unknown reasons I am unable to add them to my posts. None of the gurus aboard ship know why. And, in fact, neither does my own guru back in Brooklyn. So I post the message, and email the pictures to April, said Brooklyn guru. She has no problem adding them. However, due to Hanukkah, she's apparently not reading her email. So check back, and I'm sure she'll catch up eventually.

Phil