Valparaiso is a nice seaside town littered with amazing graffiti, funky old-school elevators, chorianas, completos and fairly cheap beer. Our first destination was the port where we saw an old peer like object in the sea occupied by sea lions, sea gulls and pelicans. What initially wondered me was how the sea lions got up there as it was about two meters out of the water. If you look carefully in the bottom right hand corner of the picture, you will find a sea lion making a giant leap up onto the angled concrete side of the old peer. It was quite incredible to see such a giant animal fly like that!
We later look a popular boat ride to have a look around the harbor and nearby naval ships. The journey took about 40 mins and we took quite a few pictures of this area, so if you’re interested in seeing what kind of fleet the Armarda de Chile has, you can find the rest of the pictures in our gallery section. It was by chance that there were a few Korean naval ships docked in the harbor They must have been on a world diplomatic tour of some sort. A Korean guy on the boat even waved to us which was nice. These pictures can also be seen in the gallery section.
In the evening we went to a really cool choriana restaurant when we had a phat portion of, you guessed it, choriana. It’s basically a huge plate of French fries with various sorts of meat on top, topped with a thick layer of cheese and to accompany, a beer of course. Its fatty food but just like in most cases, very yummy! After filling ourselves to the brim, we were so tired at that point that we took the train back to Valeria’s auntie’s apartment that she kindly allowed us to stay in while she was in Santiago.
The next day we went to the main beach attraction next to Valparaiso called Viña del Mar. It’s a nice place fueled with many nice apartments and wealthy citizens from Santiago to fill them. It’s needless to say that eating out here comes with a hefty price. Most of the time we would prepare sandwiches to go or get some empanadas from a bakery. The beach was clean, the weather was hot and the beaches were fairly full. This was our first experience next to the Pacific and a nice one at that. Only minus is the freezing cold water that I just had to test! I was wondering too why not many people were swimming. I decided to find out that hard way. I thought, it can’t be that much colder than the sea in the UK, but I must say, I only stayed in for about five minutes which I thought was long enough to warm up, but once again I was wrong. It was the coldest sea I’ve ever been in!
For dinner we went to the local market in Valparaiso that Valeria recommended. We had a selection of fresh fish that we got stuck into on the first floor where the restaurants were located. One dish that we shared was a mixed mussel soup served cold with freshly chopped herbs, lemon juice and buttered bread. I settled for an excellent cod and chips. After our meal we went to have a look around the upper parts of the town where we took an old school elevator called an “ascensor” to reach the top of the steep incline.
This was notably the old and charismatic part of Valparaiso. Filled with amazing artwork on the walls and rough edges it added real character to the place. Nice hidden away restaurants, art studios and a varied inclines made it really pleasant to walk around. Every corner had some other surprise waiting behind it. The people around here were not rich, but filled with artists, students and tourists, although we didn’t really see that many tourists here in December. The evening for me was great as I decided to stay home on the computer and work on the new WordPress version of the TZM Chapter Frankfurt website. For me it’s like therapy, as good as drawing a picture on canvas! The ladies planned to meet up with some of Valeria’s old friends, while I got my QT, nice.
After a long night and sleep-in we went back into Valparaiso for another day of exploring the town and its parts. We started by having some lunch. Completo’s and Escudo beer to be precise. A perfect lunch in my eyes. We later had a look around the port and found a great beach with a Tsunami Hazard Zone sign marking the entrance to have a small nap. Though the nap was good, there are often fears floating in one’s head, like “where would I go if a tsunami occurred?” Luckily there are signs showing evacuation routes all along the coast, from the top of Chile way down to the south, following the ridge.
4th November is a special day for Victoria and I, it’s our anniversary! On that day we had been together for seven years and still going strong. After exploring the east side of town and taking pictures of the local artwork (see gallery), we met up with Valeria’s parents for a meal that her dad had recommended. So we all went together with her parents and little sister. It was a small, old and interesting place that was covered with some amazing memorabilia from around the world and tables covered with messages or tags that people had left. This is where I left a mark, a milestone to mark our seven years being together.
Our last day took us on the train back to Valparaiso, as Valeria’s auntie’s apartment where we were staying was about a 20 min train ride away. From there we took a two hour bus journey back to Santiago. We got back and plunged straight into the newly filled pool!
