Valpo

Some of the decorative architecture still maintained
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Valparaiso in her day must have been a grand old town,  the " Gold Coast" of Santiago. It is now a fairly delapidated shadow of its former self.  It was just as freezing as Santiago ( which had 10 max on Tues)  and foggy - for a while  I thought the fog was smog like the pall that hangs over Santiago most days but some locals assured me it would lift which it did to a sunny if cold afternoon.

My spanish has taken a quantum leap but Chileans speak so fast I have difficulty keeping up.

The port of Valpo as the locals call it
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Valparaiso, one of the largest Pacific ports in sth America, has quite a history.

According to legend, Pedro De Valdivia left his mistress, Inez Suarez, in charge of the newly founded Santiago while he went to Valpo to collect reinforcements  to fight the fierce Mapuche indians.  Accompanied by a small armed force the city looked like being overcome when Inez ordered the captured indians beheaded and rolled their severed heads over the battlements. The terrified indians took flight and so the city was saved ... so the story goes .  It would be interesting to have a documented account from the indians perspective !!!!!