South America (Day 5)

February 19

I suppose it all started with the snow. You see, it was a very special kind of snow. A snow that made the happy happier, and the giddy even giddier. A snow that’d make a homecoming homier, and natural enemies, friends, natural. ~ Frosty the Snowman

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: All of them make me laugh. ~ W. H. Auden

If you can laugh at it, you can live with it. ~ Erma Bombeck

December 24

We got to the moon on Christmas Eve 1968, at the end of a poor year for this country. We had Vietnam. We had civil unrest. We had the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. But we went around the moon and saw the far side for the first time. A script writer couldn’t have done a better job of raising people’s hope. ~ Jim Lovell

Yes! Yes I do! I like Christmas! I love Christmas! ~ Ebenezer Scrooge

[It’s Christmas Eve – time for a dip in the pool?]

I get a little bit tired of Christmas trees. I like to mix it up and get a big pile of dirt. ~ Lewis Black

[When Viña del Mar [Valparaiso] was chosen as a venue for the 1962 World Cup, the coastal city decided to spruce up its seafront with a large, flowery, fully functioning clock. The Reloj de Flores (Flower Clock) is a botanical landmark in Viña del Mar to this day. It has been severely damaged by both vandalism and a fallen tree over the years, but the flowers keep on blooming, and the clock’s still ticking. (atlasobscura.com)]

Pretending to believe in the Mayan apocalypse prophecy is a great way to get out of buying Christmas presents. ~ Unknown

[The Museo Fonck, also known as the Museo de Arqueología e Historia Francisco Fonck, is situated in Viña del Mar, Valparaíso. This museum was inaugurated on November 25, 1937, and is named in honor of Francisco Fonck, a German doctor, explorer, and politician who settled in Chile and is known for his exploration of southern Chile. The museum houses an extensive collection from Easter Island, one of the most complete of its kind, which allows visitors to visualize the Rapanui culture and civilization. It also displays artifacts from the primitive cultures of northern, central, and southern Chile, including the Atacameños, Mapuches, and Diaguitas. (whichmuseum.com)]

Mama, you know, poor baby, she’d had her family all finished: four daughters and a couple of sons, and suddenly, I arrived in her midlife on Christmas Eve 1922. ~ Ava Gardner

[Our Valparaiso tour guide . . . ]

As popular as Christmas is, it would be even bigger if it had vampires. ~ Andy Borowitz

[Rapa Nui, the Polynesian name for Easter Island . . . ]

Adults can take a simple holiday for children and screw it up. What began as a presentation of simple gifts to delight and surprise children around the Christmas tree has culminated in a woman unwrapping six shrimp forks from her dog, who drew her name. ~ Erma Bombeck

Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight? ~ Santa Claus

[Where we were and where Rapa Nui is on the planet . . . ]

When I was a kid, we would get McDonalds on Christmas Eve, and that was a big deal because the closest one to the south side of Chicago was a 35 minute drive away. I remember opening the bag and smelling those fries, and even now when I smell them, it reminds me of Christmas Eve. ~ Jane Lynch

[North Atlantic meets South Pacific . . . ]

We have 40 people over for Thanksgiving, 30 people for Easter lunch, 35 people on Christmas Eve. People tend to expect to spend their holidays with us, which is lovely and an expectation I carry with pride. ~ Sonya Walger

[The inspiration for Pablo Picasso?]

I make a huge batch of cinnamon buns on Christmas Eve and bake them off early Christmas morning. ~ Christina Tosi

[Easter Island, a special territory of Chile . . . ]

Indeed, the Royal Family still retain the German custom – introduced by Prince Albert – of opening their presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning. ~ Ingrid Seward

[The inspiration for Andy of “Toy Story”?]

My grandmother was a church organist, but we only went on Easter and Christmas Eve sometimes. ~ Zach Anner

[The ‘Mapuche’ is a group of native indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. (Wikipedia)]

Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here! ~ The Grinch

[Notable is the collection on the culture of Rapa Nui (inhabitants of Easter Island), starting with an authentic Moai, located in the garden, brought to the continent in 1951, which, together with those in the British Museum in London, are the only ones outside the island. (chile-travel-and-news.com)]

It’s Christmas Eve. A time of mystery, expectations, who knows what might happen. ~ Drosselmeyer

[The Supervisor with the moai (Easter Island monumental statue) . . . ]

Cheer up, dude. It’s Christmas.  ~  The Grinch

[Moai, without the Supervisor . . . ]

God bless us, every one! ~ Tiny Tim

[Escultura Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and diplomat, located adjacent to Museo Fonck . . . ]

I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all really. Maybe it just needs a little love. ~ Charlie Brown

We got so caught up in the little things of Christmas, like love and family, that we almost forgot that it’s buying things that makes our economy thrive. ~ Diana Choksondik

[In the neighborhood . . . ]

Got all my Christmas shopping done. Now to shop for other people. ~ Conan O’Brien

Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you. ~ Steve Maraboli

[Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean lawyer and navy officer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, including battles at Papudo (1865), and at the Abtao (1866). Following his death, his name became a rallying cry for Chilean forces, and Arturo Prat has since been considered a national hero [the John Paul Jones of Chile]. Prat’s name is commemorated on numerous plazas (squares), streets, buildings and other structures in Chile. His name has been commemorated by four of Chile’s major warships. One of Chile’s Antarctic research facilities, Arturo Prat Station, and the Chilean Naval Academy, Escuela Naval Arturo Prat are named after him. His portrait appears on the 10,000 Chilean peso bank note. Also, in 1984 Arturo Prat University was founded, with its main campus in Iqioque where his heroic deed took place (Wikipedia).]

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. ~ Washington Irving

[The Navy Building, the administration headquarters of the Commander in Chief of the Chilean Navy . . . ]

The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving. ~ J. C. Penney

Thank you, Stockings, for being a long flammable piece of fabric people like to hang over a roaring fireplace. ~ Jimmy Fallon

You can’t fool me—there ain’t no Sanity Clause! ~ Chico Marx

[And behind us here is the Navy Building . . . ]

White Christmas’ is the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ of Christmas songs. ~ Stewart Stafford

[I like buildings whose names tell you what they are (the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso) . . . ]

Am I just eating because I’m bored? ~ The Grinch

Of course Santa is dead. You force a guy to eat a billion cookies in one night, what do you think is going to happen? ~ Jimmy Kimmel

[It’s always fun to take a ride up a funicular . . . ]

According to Wikipedia, single hill funiculars have been around since the 1820s but it wasn’t until 1867 that the first out of five lines of the Funicular of Lyon . . .

[It appears the “street art” in the lower right hand corner translates the same in Spanish and English . . . ]

The noun ‘funicular’ descends from an earlier adjective funicular, meaning “relating to a cord under tension” . . .

[Above and below, the view of the port and the city of Valparaiso . . . ]

“Funiculì, Funiculà,“ was written to advertise the opening of the Mt. Vesuvius funicular in 1880 . . .

[And, at no additional cost, another view of the port . . . ]

A painting is worth a thousand confused art-gallery visitors. ~ Ljupka Cvetanova

[This was our destination at the top of the funicular, in full display in the following photo . . . ]

Everywhere you walk, every place you go is full of art, explicit or hidden! If you can see them, you will be the richest art collector and your memory will be the richest art gallery! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan

[The Valparaíso Fine Arts Museum, which is housed in the beautiful Baburizza Palace, is an institution that watches over the care, protection and diffusion of the important pictorial collection that the city has been gathering since 1895, under the management of the great national expert Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma, and stands out among the four most important public art collections in Chile. The Collection is composed by works done by great national artists, such as: Juan Francisco González, Pedro Lira, Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma and Nemesio Antúnez, to point out to some. Among these we can also highlight foreign precursors, including Thomas Jacques Somerscales, Johan Moritz Rugendas, Giovanni Mochi and Desiree Chassin Trubert. (museobaburizza.cl)]

Before becoming an artist myself, I used to visit galleries and I enjoy someone’s work… Now I visit galleries and I can enjoy seeing others enjoying my work. ~ Efrat Cybulkiewicz

[The works of these last artists belonged to the personal heritage of paintings owned by Pascual Baburizza, a prominent businessman and philanthropist. (museobaburizza.cl)]

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~ Pablo Picasso

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. ~ Pablo Picasso

When I go to an art gallery and stand in front of a painting, I don’t want someone telling me what I should be seeing or thinking; I want to feel whatever I feel, see whatever I see, and figure out what I figure out. ~ James Frey

The whole world is an art gallery when you’re mindful. There are beautiful things everywhere and they’re free. ~ Charles Tart

[Our gallery tour guide was young, comedically quick witted, and knowledgeable reflecting what I seem to recall an Ivy League, or British equivalent, background. He noted that Baburizza selected paintings that he liked, not necessarily those that were famous or by famed artists. What a concept . . . ]

You know how you feel somebody looking at you, and you turn, and somebody actually is? It’s the same at an art gallery. You’re looking at one portrait, turn around, and there is a work of art directly behind you. Because it’s all energy. Every single thing has energy. ~ Marina Abramovic

[Our guide noted this painting generally drew the most interest, likely due to what appears to be some sort of interior lighting . . . ]

There is no must in art because art is free. ~ Wassily Kandinsky

Once upon a time, a girl with moonlight in her eyes . . . ~ Charles Strouse / Lee Adams

I love the art world, I love art galleries, I love what it means – I love art. ~ Nas

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~ Pablo Picasso

[This is a table top . . . ]

Great art picks up where nature ends. ~ Marc Chagall

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands. ~ Michelangelo

I love going to art galleries. The Tate Modern is one of my favourite things to do. But I don’t invest in the history of it and I don’t read up on it. I am a guy who would buy a print rather than buy an original. ~ James McAvoy

In 1967 there was no place for photography in a contemporary art gallery. It was almost impossible to get an art dealer to look at, let alone exhibit, anything photographic. ~ Mel Bochner

[A view of the port . . . ]

Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor. ~ Arnold J. Toynbee

[4-masted sailing ship in the harbor (more further down) . . . ]

One can advise comfortably from a safe port. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

[Taking the funicular back down . . . ]

Everything in a modern container port is enormous, overwhelming, crushing. ~ Rose George

I don’t mind cheese with a nice glass of port, but I prefer chocolate. ~ John Virgo

[As you’ll recall, we passed this on the way up . . . ]

[“La Esmeralda”, training ship for the Chilean Navy at her Valparaiso base. Unfortunately, the beautiful four-masted tall ship has now a bad reputation. From 1973 to 1980, it was used as a floating jail and torture chamber for political prisoners during the Pinochet years. ~ igorsolar09 (Pinterest)]

If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. ~ Thomas Aquinas

[A giant cargo ship of the modern age . . . ]

A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for. ~ Grace Hopper

It is easy to give advice from a port of safety. ~ Friedrich Schiller

[A different angle on La Esmeralda . . . ]

Every day is like Halloween or Christmas eve for me. I go to bed, and I’m so excited to get back to work. I’m very lucky that I have a career like that ’cause not many people do. ~ Adam Green

[After a hard day of touring, Ruthie and our new friend Liz went for a dip in the ship’s infinity pool . . . ]

Sometime after dark is when we were going to open all the presents underneath the tree from Mom, Dad and the kids and everything – just the family presents was every Christmas Eve. ~ Blake Shelton

‘Safe Harbor’ is a state of mind… it’s the place – in reality or metaphor – to which one goes in times of trouble or worry. It can be a friendship, marriage, church, garden, beach, poem, prayer, or song. ~ Luanne Rice

[A view of the port from our ship . . . ]

Still bent to make some port he knows not where, still standing for some false impossible shore. ~ Matthew Arnold

[And of the city from our ship . . . ]

After a prosperous, but to me very wearisome, voyage, we came at last into port. Immediately on landing I got together my few effects; and, squeezing myself through the crowd, went into the nearest and humblest inn which first met my gaze. ~ Adelbert von Chamisso

Never break the neutrality of a port or place, but never consider as neutral any place from whence an attack is allowed to be made. ~ Horatio Nelson

To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

[Guest lecture by Dr. James Kus on the Central Valley of Chile, the region south of Santiago, especially the Lake District . . . ]

It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

[Leaving Valparaiso . . . ]

No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port. ~ Michel de Montaigne

[Finally, heading out to sea. Next stop, Puerto Montt . . . ]

I grew up in Beijing and Beijing roast duck is my favorite. My mom makes it every year for Christmas Eve. How crispy the skin is is how good a duck restaurant is. ~ Lulu Wang

[The Super with a shipboard view overlooking the atrium . . . ]

We have a Danish Christmas. On Christmas Eve we dance around the tree, hold hands, sing carols. There are real candles on the tree. ~ Morten Andersen

[The musicians being overlooked (so to speak) . . . ]

But sir, Christmas is a time for giving … a time to be with one’s family. ~ Bob Cratchit

My instinctive belief is that it is probably impossible for poor old homo sapiens to get to the bottom of it all. ~ Astrophysicist Paul Davies

Guns ruin everything. There are too many damned guns in the hands of too many damned idiots in this country. ~ Joel Mathis, Kansas City Star

Up Next: Day 6, a/k/a, Christmas Day . . .