It is considered Chile’s Bohemian city.
It’s famous for its steep hills, colorful houses and
historic funicular elevators (ascensores) that climb between the lower harbor
area and the residential neighborhoods above.
The historic quarter, with narrow winding streets and colonial architecture, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is the climate and topography that grapes thrive on.
We love it too.
So it is no wonder that we love visiting areas with
vineyards.
Chile is world famous for their wines.
There is no way we could go to Chile and not check out the beautiful scenery and vineyards – for purely educational purposes.
It was founded in 1552 by the
Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia.
It’s known for its lush and rainy climate.
We stopped for the night and apparently were very lucky because we had awesome sunny weather.
Valdivia is also known for their sea lions.
And wrestlers.
We got to see both.
Really far south.
To the southern half of Chile and an island
called Chiloé, about 1,000 km south of Santiago.
Chiloé Island is the second-largest island in Chile
(after Tierra del Fuego), about 180 km (110 miles) long and 50–60 km (30–37
miles) wide in most places.
A small coastal area on the northwest coast of Chiloé is famous for being one of the few places in the world where both Humboldt and Magellanic penguins nest together.
It was the end of breeding season and the beginning of the migratory season, but, we figured we'd try our luck and go check it out anyway.
More on the penguins later.
I always try to get walking tours booked when we first arrive to get the lay of the land.
I have become a bit of a History Geek, so, I like to learn about the history of places we visit.
And we like to get a bit of an understanding of what makes the city tick now.
Unfortunately, I am linguistically challenged and only learn a few rudimentary words.
Which embarrassingly, I generally quickly forget.
This post will be a nice simple one of some street scenes from the city.
We were totally oblivious to what was going on outside, until
our AirBnb landlady sent us a message and suggested that we stay in.
Then we realized, there was absolute silence outside.
The streets were empty. Zero cars and zero pedestrians. It was eerily silent.
Tlaquepaque was founded in the 16th century during the early colonial period of New Spain.
Its name comes from Nahuatl and roughly means “place above clay land,” reflecting the area’s rich soil for pottery and ceramics.
It is famous for its artisans, galleries, and traditional
Mexican culture.
Today, Tlaquepaque has been amalgamated as a suburb of Guadalajara.
It is a hub for handicrafts, including glass, textiles, and painted ceramics.
Every country has what I term, its local “hooch”, or adult alcoholic
beverage of choice.
It is always based on what can be produced locally.
The town of Tequila is famous as the birthplace of the liquor spirit tequila, which is made from the local blue agave plant.
Tequila, the town, is designated a Pueblo Mágico (“Magic Town”.)
This is a recognition given by the Mexican government to places with cultural and historical richness.
We had to go check out the town, and the liquor... for purely educational purposes.
José Clemente Orozco was one of Mexico’s most
important muralists and a central figure in the Mexican Mural Movement.
As a teenager, a fireworks accident was severe enough that his hand had to be amputated, and he went on to build his career painting with one hand.
He lived through the Mexican Revolution, and, unlike some contemporaries, Orozco did not romanticize the revolution.
His murals often
show violence, suffering, and the human cost of political upheaval.
His style is dramatic, with strong lines, intense expressions, and bold contrasts.
(One of the downsides to being retired, is being “old”.)
So we figured while we were in the “neighbourhood” we’d pop
down to Guadalajara, Mexico.
Guadalajara was founded in 1542.
The Spanish colonial city
But then I decided I would consider this a quick little BONUS blog post on the architecture of the city, outside of Gaudi....
Parts of the original Roman walls still stand in what is now
the Gothic Quarter.
For centuries, Barcelona lived inside those walls.
The streets were narrow and irregular, built for defense and shade rather than beauty.
His name is most associated with being the architect of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
Gaudí was influenced by his observations of nature since a child. He studied plants, animals,
rock formations, shells, etc.
Instead of straight lines, he preferred curves. Instead of
classical symmetry, he used organic forms.
He was deeply religious and very proud of his Catalan
identity.
He combined all of these elements in his designs.
Think of Scotch, tequila, rum, rye, whiskey, etc.
In Spain, it is vermouth, or, as it is called locally, vermut.
Vermut began in Spain in the 1800's.
By the early 1900's it had become very popular in Spanish life.
Traditionally, almost every town had a bodega (local lingo
for a bar) serving its own house vermouth, often drawn straight from a barrel.
For purely educational purposes, we decided it would be a good idea to go visit a vermut distillery to learn more.
Our first village to visit was Besalú, a medieval
center in the lower foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains.
In its heyday, Besalú was a political, religious and commercial hub serving the surrounding countryside.
Its 12th-century Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià River is picturesque.
But it is more than just pretty.
Barcelona's main Christmas Market is the Fira de Santa Llúcia in the
square in front of Barcelona’s Cathedral.
It goes back almost 250 years when the Christmas Market was first documented in 1786.
It is one of Spain’s
oldest Christmas markets and one of the oldest continuously held markets in Europe.
But it is different than the other European Christmas Markets.
