Viña Del Mar - Parque Nacional La Campana
Upscale Chile & a Walk in the Woods

September 25, 2007

It's always a little stressful to leave a comfortable, luxurious, and friendly place after spending just long enough time there to become oriented, acquainted, and to develop a sense of security with the people and the surroundings. Leaving means the process of orientation and acclimation must be repeated (not to mention packing and un-packing once again) - and what if the results aren't quite as good as the current situation? 

I think we all felt the departure anxiety a little more intensely than usual when we left Portillo. How could anything rival that place? We were heading back to Urbana in the form of Viña Del Mar, and for me, the immediate concern would be the traffic of a strange new foreign city and then after tracking down a hotel, figuring out how and where to park the truck. 

We found the outskirts of Viña quite readily, following the advice of large green highway signs. Figuring out where and how to abandon the outskirts for the inskirts was a bit challenging, with a lot of weekend construction happening on the main roads and not much in the way of urban signage (other than those o-so-useful signs telling you how to get to a freeway that leads back to Santiago or Buenos Aires or Mexico City).  But with the sort of persistence and determination engendered by lack of alternatives, we couldn't help but eventually find our intended destination, without even yelling or getting too freaked out. We must be getting used to this.

The next morning, everyone was delighted to discover that the side street leading away from our hotel was lined with pastry and bread shops... 

and we were quickly immersed in the enjoyable atmosphere of Viña Del Mar.

Historically, Viña Del Mar began as the summer resort for residents of Valparaiso, which is located merely a dozen or so kilometers down the coast. Founded in 1541 as one of the first Spanish settlements in Chile, Valparaiso served as a major port for centuries. As such, the social, political, and physical history in Valparaiso is far more profound, layered, and significant than that of Viña Del Mar - yet Viña has the beaches and the modern high rise apartments and the shiny white casino and the old castle/summer-home/palaces of wealthy industrialists. It has a modern, wealthy, shopping-district chic that offsets the grit and noise of Valparaiso. Being the primary summer weekend-at-the-beach destination for Santiagans, there is no shortage of tourist attractions in Viña Del Mar, and the summer weekend traffic jams (or "tacos" as they are called in Chile) are legendary.

Now that we are here (fortunately not during the peak of the summer holiday season), and I'm reading vs. skimming the guidebooks, it seems that we're visiting the Viña icing before having a chance to sample the cake of Valpo, but so be it. There is a lot here to see, eat, and enjoy here, and we're usually up to that task. 

For those of you burning to know more, Wikipedia is a good reference!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vina_del_mar

After satisfying the first and foremost priority of sampling the products of the pastry shops, we could turn our attentions to touring some of the famous palaces and "castles" which were the former residences of nitrate mining barons and the early industrialists of Chile. We began with a tour of the Palacio Rioja. The following plaque tells some of the basic story of who Fernando Rioja was and why he built a house here. I'm not sure but I think the "tremenda catastrofe" that lead to the relocation of this Spanish businessman would be the huge 8.6 earthquake that devastated Valparaiso in 1906

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After touring the Palacio Rioja, we returned to the plaza near our hotel to catch a "Victoria," which is the local name for a horse drawn cab. A 45 minute Victoria-tour took us past more beautiful old houses, up and down the coast past the shiny high-rise apartments and the casino, and then back to the plaza following the river Marga Marga. 

This beautiful old house now holds a cultural musuem.

Apartments along the coast.

Castle on the hill.

The glamorous hotel O'Higgins (left) and a "Gentleman's Club" (right).

Church by the plaza Vergara.

Later in the afternoon we visited the "Floral Clock" for a photo shoot. We shared an impromptu English-Spanish lesson with the family of the man that took our picture for us. I was hoping that my Spanish might be on-par with his English, but no - he had me practice with his daughter Catalina.

The story of Gustavo Wulff and the Wulff Castle. I was amused by the various Chilean pronunciations of "Wulff."  Some people say something like "Golf," and others try to produce a proper German sound and end up with something that sounds like "woof" spoken with a mouthful of marbles. The llatter were probably correct.

Wulff Castle.

The "Arabian Gentleman's Club," located right across the street.

On the hill above Wulff Castle (Cerro Castillo) there sits this beautiful old villa, protected by the simply security system of a cannon pointed out to sea. I wonder if this deters the cat-burglers.

Views of the river Marga Marga. The casino is in the far left picture.

A handsome Victoria parked in front of the casino.   

We hung out along the shore to enjoy the sunset, as did many other people who had been enjoying the warm Sunday afternoon...

not to mention the pelicans, gulls, and penguins. 

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Parque Nacional La Campana is named for the prominent hill Cerro de la Campana which is so named because the top of the hill is shaped like a bell. The park is located a short drive inland from Viña Del Mar, so Anna, Lynn and I took the opportunity to take a long hike in the woods on a Monday when some of the city attractions are closed. Tom earned a bye by virtue of still having a slightly wounded-knee (now almost completely healed). 

Chilean "Iguana."  (at least that's what the guy working at the CONAF office told us it was)

Scenes from the trail.

Old mine tunnels, cut into the neighboring hillside.

Cerro Campana.

More views from the trail.

When we returned to the hotel, we found Tom cranky and lethargic from a day of lounging and doing nothing but not-enough schoolwork. We'll have to find a way to get him some exercise if he doesn't admit that his knee is healed soon. Then we went out to eat with the family of a Chilean exchange student who had lived in Piedmont last school year. After the wonderful dinner they invited us to an Asado (Chilean barbeque) on Sunday. No problem! We'll be there!

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Finally, on Tuesday we visited the grandest old palace of them all - the home of engineer politician writer and founder of Viña Del Mar - Jose Vergara.

First I coaxed the family into a needless ride up one of the famous old ascensors, just so we could walk back down the hill. Then we finally found the grounds of Palacio Vergara, just a short walk from the plaza that bears the same name.  The main floor of the mansion is well preserved, and contains the largest collection of European art in all of Chile. 

So after a few relaxing days in Viña Del Mar, we're going to pack up and drive 10 minutes over to Valparaiso tomorrow. I'm not so worried about what it will be like this time. If we don't like it, we can just turn around and come back to Viña!

-Rolf