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Today is my final day in Valparaiso. I will be sad to leave this unique city.
After walking up and down numerous hills, I think what interests me the most are the artists who paint huge murals on or next to very small dwellings, like the one in the featured image. Here is another one:
My photos were taken in the UNESCO preserved areas of the city. The house above is typical of the original building materials: adobe mud faced with metal and painted with leftover ship paint, and windows and iron railings, all repurposed from wrecked ships.
Here is another large painting on a wall next to a narrow staircase leading up a hill:
And speaking of staircases, they are enchanting or treacherous or sometimes both. Charming piano keys:
Not so charming descent even with a minimal handrail at the bottom:
Coming around a corner and catching sight of a wall painting is an exciting find but sometimes there is too much to take in, as in the picture below:
My walking tour guide told our group that neither wall art nor graffiti is legal unless you own the building and paint on it yourself. But, there is obviously little, if any, enforcement of this law. Today at noon in Plaza Anibal Pinto, a main thoroughfare, here are two aspiring artists painting away:
A word about the food here in Valparaiso. In cafes, many people are eating a hot dog. But this is not just any hot dog. It is a foot long, comes in a very fat bun and is filled with chopped tomatoes, avacado and peaks of whipped mayonnaise.
The woman at the table next to me smoothed out the mayo before I could get my IPhone out of my purse and sneak a picture. And there is another local favorite that is meant to be shared by a table. Seems mostly suited to a group of growing teenage boys:
There are recipes for Chorrillana on line. Left off the list here are the two fried eggs on top. I’d guess a modest serving would be about 3,000 calories.
To eat fish, other than fried, one must pay a lot for it. I usually stick to salads because the local vegetables are delicious. Last night in a highly recommended Peruvian restaurant I ordered kidney beans and rice with a shrimp sauce. What I pictured was steaming white rice covered in plump dark red kidney beans with pink shrimp on top and rivulets of a pale gravy. What arrived at the table was a fried brown pancake with brown gravy and brown shrimp. I suppose the pancake had been rice and kidney beans before they were made to look like something else. As I say, I mostly stick to salads. Tonight being my last night here, I will splurge and return to the restaurant where I had a deliciously prepared and recognizable tuna steak.