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After another day at sea, we arrived in San Antonio, Chile. The capital of Chile, Santiago, lies nearly 2 hours inland east, and the city on the hills, Valparaiso, is an hour and half north from San Antonio.

We took a cruise line excursion called Valparaiso Porteno Artist Studio that allowed us to visit three different local artists, and then enjoy a lunch at a local restaurant. So seven of us and a guide hopped onto a small bus for the hour and half drive to Valparaiso. Along with its seaside charm and flowers, Valparaiso is known for its ascensors. There are, I think, eight working ascensors (elevators) in the city (probably close to twenty originally built) that can take you up and down the hills instead of walking up the steep streets. They are like gondolas on a rail, pulled by cables.

Our first stop was the home and studio of local native Edwin Rojas. Edwin is known for his neo-figurativism, whatever that means. I saw it as part surrealism, part magical, part whimsical. He and his daughter, studying in the tourism field, gave a tour of their home and wonderful patio looking down on the city. Downstairs was his and his wife’s studios.

Next stop was to a galley / studio of Hernia Freile. She is known for her etching prints. Etching entails etching an image on a resin coated metal sheet, and transferring the image to paper using a press. The gallery consisted of a room up front with here and her husband’s etching work, and multiple back studio rooms with artist desks for etching and a room with several presses. Her work is beautiful, but was difficult to capture on camera.

The third artist home and studio was of Gonzalo Ilabaca. He prides himself as a human figure artist, exploring the “social universe.” His home is an eccentric +100 year old house filled with his work from his year-long trips to India/Southeast Asia, Mexico/Guatemala, and up/down the length of Chile. He guided us through each room, each with a different theme or phase of his life. His last set of work attempts to capture the disappearing bohemian port bars in Valparaiso that are now all closing.

Our next stop was lunch, out on a patio overlooking the city atop a hill, we were sipped Pisco Sours and ate fresh fish for lunch. We met the bus waiting for us at the bottom of the hill by riding the ascension down. In my case, I rode it up and down again as I had to go back to the restaurant to retrieve my hat!

There is graffiti and wonderful mural art throughout city, sometimes difficult to segregate which os which.

At some point we stopped at one of the city squares for photos. It was named Sotomayor Square, after our hispanic Supreme Court Justice. A coffee shop also bears her name.

Our guide / translator, Victoria, was wonderful. She knew each of the artists personally, had great insight of the city, and was very patient with us, herding us back towards the bus when we clearly were still absorbing what we saw. The route between San Antonio and Valparaiso went through some of the areas devastated by wild fires last year. Although the burn scars are still visible, it was heart-warming to see so many tree seedings planted already to try to reforest.