Day 32: Another Funicular — Pablo Neruda’s vacation home — Cafe Turri
Kids made their breakfast again today. Here’s a shot from our lofted bedroom. We can hear every whisper and crunch of the cereal which is both annoying and cute.
I took a quick jog and grabbed cappuccinos on the way home. We then did a couple hours of school, had lunch and then headed into Valparaiso with a plan to hit a couple tourist highlights.
Funicular!
We’ve achieved Premiere Gold frequent flyer status on Funiculars. This is our third here in Latin America. Valpo’s version was the steepest, most rickety and thankfully the shortest. We paid 100 Chilean pesos per person to ride up which is about 15 cents. At the top there is a slide for kids.
La Sebastiana
We wandered around, taking pictures in the street art and then grabbed an Uber to “La Sebastiana” — the vacation home of poet / politician Pablo Neruda, now a museum. We did an abbreviated version of the walking tour with the handsets talking you through the details of each room. Very cool house with amazing views. Neruda loved all things nautical, but didn’t like actually being on boats, loved to host parties with friends (whiskey drinker), yet was a diligent worker, spending several hours every morning on his writing. More on Neruda here.
Dinner at Cafe Turri
We came home after the museum. The clouds had burned off around 3pm as they have the last couple days — like clockwork every day of the summer apparently. So we headed to the pool for a quick swim. Then we got “dressed up” for dinner on the deck at Cafe Turri, a Valpo hotspot, if there is such a thing. It was essentially empty at 6pm when we arrived so we got the best seats in the house. Great view, actually really solid food. Definitely one of the highlights of this stop.
Cats and Dogs
This town is crawling with cats and dogs — both strays and pets.
We saw another Molly doppelgänger on the street.
And the neighbor’s cat befriended Margaret on the roof.
Two Memorable Quotes
Valparaiso is known for being a hippy / chill place. Today an Uber driver said, “Valparaiso isn’t a city, it is a mental state.”
There was a table of 4 Americans sitting next two us at dinner: two couples in their 60s / 70s, one from Chicago, one from Boston. The two men were high school best friends and now the foursome are travel buddies. After hearing Willa’s name and age, one of the guys said: “I have a daughter her age… but now she’s 37.” That line sums up one of the many reasons why we are taking this adventure. Here we area talking to this crew…
One more day in Valpo tomorrow. Plan is to head to Vina Del Mar — the beach town next door. Flying to Rio on Saturday.
One Funny Thing
We were sitting on a bench waiting for an Uber. This kid was playing with a balloon. Not annoying at all.
