The next morning I left the hostel with all my bags, ventured to the nearby subway stop, took the clean, efficient Santiago subway to the Pajaritos stop, and bought a ticket for a bus leaving for Valparaiso in 10 mintutes. A cinch!
Pat from Bristol, England had also just bought a ticket to Valpo, and when we arrived two hours later we shared a cab because we'd learned that we were both staying on Cerro Alegre (happy hill - hehe) in Hostel Luna Sonrisa ("Moon Smile" - recommended to me by Lara). Nadia, an intern from Switzerland on her first day at the hostel, was very helpful explaining the city and all the highlights.
Valparaiso is Chile's second-largest (after Santiago), a coastal city sprawling over more than 40 hills, many of which contain ancient, amazingly-still-functioning funiculars to help its citizens subir (climb) them.
Pat and I shared lunch down our hill a ways, then I took a bus to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's Valparaiso home. Each floor was a different room, with stunning views of the entire city and the bay. Objects of note: an embalmed colo-colo bird from Venezuela hanging from the dining room ceiling, a "very private" bathroom off the bar with a door made from a fence, and a portrait of a random man wearing a ruff to keep a portrait of Queen Elizabeth (also wearing a ruff) company.
La Sebastiana
I walked downhill through el Museo del Cielo Abierto (open air museum), 30 murals/graffiti on buildings, benches, windows, etc. that hardly feel like a museum. The street art was not confined to this area, either - the entire city feels like a living work of art. I've never seen such interesting graffiti. I wish that my photography was up to the task. (ha ha!)
Bay
Upper-entrance to one of the city's funiculares
Mural near my hostel
Crazy car parked across the street from my hostel - Valpo is so easy to get lost in, sometimes this car was my only hope of finding home.
On my way back, I stopped at the same place we had lunch for "once" - the Chilean equivalent of British "elevensies," tea and cake - although in Chile it usually takes place in the afternoon instead of mid-morning.
Back at the cozy, homey hostel, Pat was making squash curry for dinner and shared with everyone staying there. Enter Pete from England, who immediately launched into a lively 30-hour discussion with Pat about UK football, cricket, politics, government jobs, TV shows, you-name-it, of which I was an entertained spectator at dinner, then a nearby bar, then the neighboring city of Viña del Mar the next day. I'll never know how long the discussion lasted, because when I left Tuesday morning for Santiago, they were planning to travel to Mendoza, Argentina together (and had done their best to convince me to join them).
But I really wanted to spend a fair share of my time in Chile, after two months in Argentina. Back in Santiago, I changed my plans last-minute, and instead of going to the coastal surfing town of Pichilemu, I decided I hadn't had enough of Chile's lakes district and booked an overnight bus to Frutillar, south of Pucon.
Pat from Bristol, England had also just bought a ticket to Valpo, and when we arrived two hours later we shared a cab because we'd learned that we were both staying on Cerro Alegre (happy hill - hehe) in Hostel Luna Sonrisa ("Moon Smile" - recommended to me by Lara). Nadia, an intern from Switzerland on her first day at the hostel, was very helpful explaining the city and all the highlights.
Valparaiso is Chile's second-largest (after Santiago), a coastal city sprawling over more than 40 hills, many of which contain ancient, amazingly-still-functioning funiculars to help its citizens subir (climb) them.
Pat and I shared lunch down our hill a ways, then I took a bus to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's Valparaiso home. Each floor was a different room, with stunning views of the entire city and the bay. Objects of note: an embalmed colo-colo bird from Venezuela hanging from the dining room ceiling, a "very private" bathroom off the bar with a door made from a fence, and a portrait of a random man wearing a ruff to keep a portrait of Queen Elizabeth (also wearing a ruff) company.
La Sebastiana
I walked downhill through el Museo del Cielo Abierto (open air museum), 30 murals/graffiti on buildings, benches, windows, etc. that hardly feel like a museum. The street art was not confined to this area, either - the entire city feels like a living work of art. I've never seen such interesting graffiti. I wish that my photography was up to the task. (ha ha!)
Bay
Upper-entrance to one of the city's funiculares
Mural near my hostel
Crazy car parked across the street from my hostel - Valpo is so easy to get lost in, sometimes this car was my only hope of finding home.
On my way back, I stopped at the same place we had lunch for "once" - the Chilean equivalent of British "elevensies," tea and cake - although in Chile it usually takes place in the afternoon instead of mid-morning.
Back at the cozy, homey hostel, Pat was making squash curry for dinner and shared with everyone staying there. Enter Pete from England, who immediately launched into a lively 30-hour discussion with Pat about UK football, cricket, politics, government jobs, TV shows, you-name-it, of which I was an entertained spectator at dinner, then a nearby bar, then the neighboring city of Viña del Mar the next day. I'll never know how long the discussion lasted, because when I left Tuesday morning for Santiago, they were planning to travel to Mendoza, Argentina together (and had done their best to convince me to join them).
But I really wanted to spend a fair share of my time in Chile, after two months in Argentina. Back in Santiago, I changed my plans last-minute, and instead of going to the coastal surfing town of Pichilemu, I decided I hadn't had enough of Chile's lakes district and booked an overnight bus to Frutillar, south of Pucon.
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