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Complete Valpo Picture Set)
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Complete Viña Picture Set - Some fotos courtesy of Danielle)
Goodbye Santiago, hello coast. It was a sentimental day to be staring out across the Pacific ocean again. More or less it looks exactly like the Atlantic, a bit more than the less, but knowing it was
the pacific brought back a bunch of fond memories of time spent on the California coast.
(Woman trying her best to sell us a bed for the night. Didn't work out)Leaving behind Santiago in all it's smoggy glory, but also the marvelous hostel with the people and pool that made my day more than a few times, Danielle and I made our way to the coast to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of Valparaiso and resort town Viña del Mar. At the time, Danielle and
I were only minor aquaintances, and she had asked to come along with me when she found I was leaving to Valpo. I am glad she did, as she became a good
(Danielle and I on our quirky port tour)friend and awesome travel buddy, and we had many good times and laughs together. We each felt a bit of Casa Roja withdrawal, leaving behind the giant house, spacious lounging areas, and the pool. Unfortunately for Danielle, that was the first hostel she had ever stayed in. Everything else just isn't gonna measure up.
Valparaiso, besides having a hard to pronounce name, is an old port city in a protected bay that extends up into the surrounding hills. It has seen better days, but still has a unique charm. One can see the beauty and prosperity it once held, as some of it still manages to shine through the
(Bright Valpo buildings)wornout buildings that crowd the cracked sidewalks and worn out cobbled streets. It isn't made well for random exploration; if you go on one of the uphill streets, either plan on walking up the whole way to finally find a cross street or just turn around. But wander we did, up a few hills and into and out of beautiful and shady parts of the city. And that is shady as in questionable, not like under a tree. Danielle and I decided to take a boat tour
through the port, and after a poor choice by me, jumped on board a boat of questionable quality and chalk full of Chilean tourists. After putting on lifejackets I would probably have felt safer out of than in, and then taking one of those
(Maybe not safe from drowing, but definitely cute)stupid touristy photos of the boat that they then try to sell you for twice the price of the tour itself, the engine started and the "tour" began. Shouting over the rumble of the boat engine, our "guide" gave us the rundown on the ships in the harbor, like where they were from, what they carried, and their names. He also told us about a nice building full of restraunts where we could have lunch. I tried to do a bit of translation, but with the engine noise, the shouting guide, and subject matter, I think I did a pretty bad job. But it isn't like Danielle missed anything though. At first this quirky little boat tour with a shouting guide and terrible subject matter was entertaining and worthy of a few laughs, but by the end, we were ready to jump ship and swim to shore.
Thank goodness it only cost $2. We ate dinner at a restraunt with a great view and mediocre, overpriced food. If only we had read the guidebook beforehand, we would
(Ship being repaired in port)have known it was a tourist trap. Oh well, we did have the view. In the end, Valpo was worthy of the visit, but at the same time, I am glad I only was there for a short visit.
The next morning we took a metro line to Viña del Mar, about a 15 minute ride north on the coast. The section above ground was quite pretty,
and the section below ground looked about like every underground metro ride you will ever take. Viña is totally different than Valpo, full of sandy beaches, modern buildings and design, and definitely a resort town. It was pretty to walk through though and
(Cool foto by Danielle)had some interesting places to visit and see. The coast with some beach was also nice to see and walk on, something Valpo lacked. For lunch we went to this overpriced beachside cafe that sold small, bland sandwiches for $4-6, but then gave you a mountain of gellato for $3. I was quite impressed after ordering my three flavors when the guy handed my overflowing bowl with a cone stuck in the side. It was a bit interesting to eat as the heat outside made it a dripping mess. But I guess that is half the fun of eating icecream. Afterward Danielle went back to Santiago and our
beloved Casa Roja, and I spent the night in Valpo.
(Viña del Mar beach)
Back in the hostel I met some of the new people who had come in, and ended up cooking dinner with one of them. Pasta with sauce. For those of you who have traveled before, you know what a rare, fine delicacy that is. No one ever eats pasta. Ever. The stove was actually really nice with this interesting glass surface that would fold down flat over the
burners or could be propped up so it was like any other stove. Now before I continue, who has ever seen a stove like this before? If you said yes, you are weird and will probably laugh at our soon to be revealed stupidity
(Seriously large pile of gelato)more than the rest. Next question, how many people have seen glass-top stoves before? Yeah, me too. Why you would put a
folding glass top on was a bit perplexing to my friend and I, but hey, maybe it distributed the heat better. We figured no one would have put it on if it wasn't for cooking with. So we lit the burner, put down the glass, and started cooking. I should note too that when we arrived, the glass top was down, like it was supposed to be there to cook with. That is definitely not why it was there. How do I know? Because after cooking for a few minutes and not liking the results with the glass down, we decided to go back to the traditional method of just the
bare metal. Seconds later the large glass plated shattered into a thousands peaces and spilled
(Castle by the sea)dramatically down onto the stove and countertop. Luckily, we had taken all the open pans off the stovetop and only covered boiling pasta was left on, so we didn't have to throw out the food to prevent ourselves from swallowing glass shards. So, just so everybody knows, if you find a foldable glass stove top on the next stove you cook on, don't put it down while cooking. It is only for extra counter space and tricking travelers into breaking things. I don't know what the owner thought. I left before he found out, and I haven't heard back from my friend. I sure he was just thrilled though. Who wouldn't be?
After soaking in the ambiance of Valpo and the beach sun in Viña, the next stop was accross the Andes in Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza via Santiago is a
So back to Santiago I went. I met up with Danielle and she introduced me to some Aussie friends she had. We ended up wandering around the city some more, in the
