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Solfari :
Places
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Endurance : Ascensors
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Sprinkled throughout the hillside
of Valparaiso are the famous ascensores . These antique
people moving devices were created in the late 1800's and early 1900's
in order to help people living in the hills get back and forth from the
commercial area below.
There are 15 ascensors still working today, all with an angle of ascension
from between 30 and 45 degrees! The way that the ascensor works
in by having 2 nearly equally weighted cabins on either end of a long
steel cable. From the top, the wheel house needs only to apply a
reasonable force to get the cabins to exchange locations. It's an
amazingly simple concept that has lasted well over 100 years!
The cabins are small rooms built of wood with floors and walls that
permit light to filter in between the cracks. It's not the most sturdy
construction, but with the scenery, that's what gives it such charm.
The day that I decided to take a walking tour of the ascensores, I
left the Brighton Bed and Breakfast for the Ascensore Artilleria.
I walked up to the entrance and happily gave my 120 Chilean pesos
to the woman in the entryway. She said something to me that I didn't
understand. Surprise, surprise.
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Ascensore Artilleria
Valparaiso,
Chile
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She seemed to be working, but not
the one collecting payment. In my happy-go-lucky attitude, I hopped
in the cabin and looked around. This was the largest ascensor cabin
that I had been in so far. With the name Artilleria and the location
close to the water and naval yard, it was probably used to transport troops
to their posts in order to protect the city.
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Ascensore
Artilleria Cabin
Valparaiso, Chile
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At the top of Ascensore
Artilleria, there is an inviting landing area for viewing the ocean and
the city. In addition, the ever present local merchants have setup
shop with their wares. This was one of the better selections of arguably
needless tourist stuff in all of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.
Regardless, I spent a little time enjoying the atmosphere, but with 14
other ascensors to see, I had to keep moving! The ride down only
costs 100 pesos, compared to the 120 cost of riding up and there are always
noticably fewer people riding down for, I think, obvious reasons.
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In order to minimize the
number of people needed to work at the ascensors, all of the fees are collected
at either the top or bottom by one person. So you may think that you're
getting a free ride because no one collected your entry fee when entering
the cabin but at the other end there will be someone waiting.
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In addition, there's always
a mechanical operator at the top that runs the motors that make the ascensors
go. Sometimes he even has rudimentary levers that open and shut the
cabin door before sending it down the hill. It sure isn't high tech,
but it's a beautiful thing!
I started walking through the city to reach the opposite end and planned
to work my way back by lunchtime. It's about a half hour walk from
one end to the other and by the time I reached Ascensor Barón, the
sun was shining brightly with the morning fog long gone.
In my Lonely Planet book, this was one of the highly recommended ascensors
to visit because of a gorgeous view of the city and the Iglesia San Francisco
Bell Tower. Unfortunately, I tried to enter but the gate was closed
for the short walk to the entrada. I asked a policeman and one
of the merchants from the local flea market. I think that they told
me it was closed for repairs, but with my lack of Spanish skills, the only
important word that I caught was cerrado or closed.
Undeterred, I made my way through the curved streets of lower Valparaiso
to Ascensor Lecheros. Following a short ride up, I stopped to change
film in my camera. There were 5 boys playing football in the street
and, with my camera in tow, they could tell that I was a tourist.
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Ascensore
Artilleria
Valparaiso, Chil
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They stopped playing and began to
call out to me. I politely responded back "No hable Espanol." At
least one of them understood me as he repeated what I said to his friends.
They proceeded to ask for a photo. Always interested in the
local angle, like your hard working hometown reporter, I obliged and captured
quite a fun photo of
them.
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Ascensor
Lecheros Entrada
Valparaiso, Chile
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The walk to Ascensor Baron was not
particularly tough. The higher stations of each ascensor were at about
equal level. As I walked through the local streets, I remember thinking
about all the cars driving up and down the hills and wondering if there were
pollution problems in Valparaiso. Probably not since the ocean breeze
and low hills seem inclined to not trap smog.
After 10 minutes in the brilliant sun, I found the platform area reserved
for absorbing lovely Valparaiso. The whole city was right there before
you, inviting and colorful. The equivalent view in San Francisco would
be from across the Golden Gate bridge and to the immediate west where you
have the bridgejust below the city. Spectacular.
I didn't spend too much time there because I wanted to visit as many ascensors
as possible. Although my schedule was appointmentless, it would take
quite a while to go from one to the next.
When I reached Ascensor Espiritu Santo, there was an older man sitting
in the cabin. He began to talk to me and I informed him of my limited
Spanish knowledge, but he insisted on talking to me. I stuggled to
understand what he was saying, but it turned out that he was asking me where
I was from
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Always trying to be polite,
I told him Chicago. At this point, he told me that he was originally
from Stockholm, my favorite city! He then continued to speak about
his daughter living in the States and working for the CIA. Maybe it
was Chicago's reputation that spurred this thought. Maybe not.
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At the top of Espiritu Santo, I was
surprised by the colorful abodes across the shallow ravine. This was
the first great example of Chilean colored houses that I had expected to
see. On my way back down the ascensor, I filmed the short ride and
present it here for your enjoyment. This is in Real format and is
about 2 Megabytes.
As the afternoon drew on, I made my way to a local restaurant and plotted
my strategy for the night in Vina del Mar, the sister city to Valparaiso.
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Ascensore Espiritu Santo Salida
Valparaiso, Chile
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Solfari :
Places
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Endurance : Ascensors
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