City of the Arts

Valparaiso

Our quarter Chilean mate Kate Orme recommended we head to Valparaiso a port city 2hrs out of Santiago. So we did :)

When we arrived at our hostel 'Casa de Limon Verde' we were pretty knackered however I managed to get Ged out of the hostel with the promise of dinner ;) we went down and saw the port by night with huge container ships, navy vessels, fishing and tourist boats all lit up and looking pretty.

The next day we fell in love with this place- the street art, the labyrinth of cobble stone lanes and the hap-hazard architecture of hundreds of cute colourful houses contrasting the run-down and random buildings all built ontop of Valpo's 32 steep hills!

We started with another free walking tour- Pablo firstly showed us how to avoid a bazillion steps and introduced us to the vinaculars (historic almost-vertical trolleys that gave Ged the hevvie-jeavies). At the top of the hills the views were phenomenal!! As you walk the streets every nook and cranny is covered in murals and art! Pablo explained to us that the government gives out paint for free every year to the residents to maintain the character of the place! Cool eh! Ged took so many photos!! Following the tour we went to the fish markets to devour the local catch, delish!!

Next up was Pablo Neruda's house 'La Sebastian'. Neruda is Chile's most famous and eccentric poet who had three houses in Chile (one for each mistress) all which are now museums! This house is five storeys high, each with a chaotic collection of items including a wooden horse from a Parisian carousel in a circular dining room, stunning stain glass doors and art covering every wall.  Neruda was obsessed with the ocean so his house is filled with ship memorabilia, maps, even his bedside table and lamp were objects retrieved from a ship! Ironically he was terrified of the ocean but loved to look at the sea, so the views from his house are unparalleled! We were there for a spectacular sunset- just incredible!

After a three hour power nap we headed out at 10:30pm for our first real taste of South American nightlife!! We tried a few Chilean drinks including 'terremoto' (earthquake) which is concoction of pisco, pineapple and icecream before ending up at a bar called 'Gato en la Ventana'.  We had the BEST time here with incredible live Chilean music, beers by the litre and great company! We made friends with four locals and chatted Spanglish, danced and laughed all night with our new amigos! The power nap must have worked cause we got home after 4am!!

Adios for now,
Hope everyone is well,

Rah and Ged

Ps the lie is not that I got home at 4am, I know it's hard to believe but it's true!