Valparaiso

Valparaiso is not only one of the most important seaports of Chile. This city located 120 km from the capital Santiago is called "The Jewel of the Pacific" due to its urban architecture that monstrates the influances of various cultures as well as the artistic and bohemian life strongly developed and cultivated for centuries.

For those who admire the works of Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prized Chilean poet, visiting this place means a lot. La Sebastiana - as this is the name of the house - is one of the three mensions the atist possessed in Chile. Two others are located in Santiago and Isla Negra.

This is the fragment of Neruda's poem: "Ode to Valparaiso":

"Valparaiso
So small
Like a cloth
Helpless
Hanging
Ragged in a Window
Swaying
In the Wind
of the ocean
Impregnated
With all the pain
Of your ground
Receiving
The dew
Of the sea, the kiss
Of the wild angry sea
That with all of its power
Beat the rocks
It could not
Knock you down
Because on your southern chest
Is tattooed
The struggle
The hope
The solidarity
And the joy
As anchors
Resisting
The waves of the earth."

The city looks at the sea from the steep hills. In order to reach them from the bottom since centuries up to nowadays people have used the system of numerous funiculars - "ascensores". Even old they do work - I tried it!