Museo a Cielo Abierto de Valparaiso (Open Air Museum)

Wednesday March 26 was another gloomy, cloudy day.  We bundled up and headed into town (the temperature goes from 11C to 17C during the day). Our destination was a hill we hadn't explored before- Cerro Bellavista.  We walked to Plaza Victoria and then headed up a winding road into the hill.  We first passed a closed up restaurant /boutique called Besame Mucho, after the popular song.

Besame Mucho    

We also walked by a great sign for a bar and restaurant that dated back to 1893.            

Since 1893!

Close to Plaza Victoria was one of the nicest looking bakeries we have seen on the trip.  Alano stopped for a muffin.  For translation purposes, 600 chilean dollars is $1.20 CAN and $1270 chilean pesos is $2.54 CAN, so you can see how reasonably priced pastries are.  Vegetables and meats are also very inexpensive.  The only thing that we pay close to Canadian prices are our coffees (about $2.20 for an espresso and $2.60 for a small cortado (macchiato))

Window of goodies-- apple kuchen, and cream puffs

Plaza Victoria

We headed up the hill passing a large mural of red-riding hood, located beside a restaurant with the word wolf in its name.

Red Riding hood

Another beauty

The Museo a Cielo Abierto de Valparaiso is an open air display of murals which started in1969 when students of the Art Institute of the Universidad Catolica began to paint their works on the walls of the nearby houses.  Then, in 1990, the idea turned into a project with famous artists participating in creating the murals.  The Bellavista neighbourhood is just below Pablo Neruda's house.  Apparently, artists remember Neruda walking in the neighbourhood and talking to the muralists before his death in 1973.

Signage with artists and mural locations

Almost every turn one made let to another mural among the houses.

Very intricate mural

Mural on Passage Santa Lucia.

Lots of boats

We then saw this little boy in a window alcove beside a picture of a cat.  Couldn't resist the photo.

Real boy and  fantasy cat

Here's the real cat on the hot tin roof.

There also were some interesting mosaic stools outside one bright blue home.

Most of the housing in this neighbourhood is old, weather-beaten and crumbling.  But art is everywhere and the views of the port are magnificent.

The 'hood

Guess you have to say it's awesome!

This next mural was beautifully coloured and drawn with a view of the port.

Some pictures were more current, with tattoos and weird creatures.

We looked into a schoolyard where the students were lined up.  All the high school and younger students we saw in the streets were wearing uniforms.

Schoolyard looking in from hill

Crumbling facade

On Ferrari Street which leads up to Pablo Neruda's house, we passed a few blocks where the houses had tiles on the outsides with verses of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca.  From my sketchy Spanish, it looks like they were placed on the wall as part of a World Tango celebration in Valpo in 2007.

Explanation of plaques

One of many tiles with verse from Lorca

We then arrived at the Plaza de los Poetas, which had three sculptures of Chile's most famous poets- Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral and Vicento Huidobro.

Gabriela Mistral

Alano with Pablo Neruda

Vicento Huidobro

Growl....

We stopped for a sandwich at Sello Verde and sat in the terrace area with a great view of the port.

We descended Ferrari Street until we got back to the flat part of town.  We then checked out a cafe we had heard had good coffee.  It was called Puro Cafe and it had great coffee, as well as having fabulous murals and a real old fashioned coffee house feel. There were many locals there having coffee and cake.

                                                                 The crowd at Puro Cafe

Another fabulous mural

Alano awaits his coffee

We started our trek back to the B&B, passing an archway dedicated in 1910.

Our final photo caught an artist retouching his work--- the famous clock and trolley picture we have passed a number of times.

Artist at work

We headed up our hill to a late dinner at the B&B.  We are now the only guests besides the students who are staying here.  Definitely getting into fall weather here- we are missing the sun that we had the first two weeks of our trip.  However, Valpo is a very unique and edgy place.