Valparasio

Today we had an all day tour to the coast of Chile to Valparasio. It is a city of contrasts, old and new. They use a lot of colors in their buildings. We rode up to the top of one of the hills on probably the oldest furnicular that I have ever been on. It was wooden and did not feel very secure, but we all made it! We rode a street car with the cables and did a walking tour through a lot of pretty narrow streets and alleys. The flowers are blooming-wisteria, poppies, roses, you name it. It was really pleasant and very different. We ate at a restaurant called the One Eyed Cat. It was on the top of the hillside overlooking the harbor and had quite a view. The countryside getting to Valparasio was full of vineyards and poppies and was very different than here in Santiago. The meal was sea bass and they broiled me some plain and it was quite good. We did a lot of walking, lots of steps and Jim did well with his ribs,thanks to the pain medicine but the legs got a real workout. We had two dogs that adopted us on the top of the hill and they went with us all the way down! It was funny. They chased cars and kept up with us all the way. There were dogs everywhere.