Having company was a good thing, considering that the city is well-known for is dangers. I didn't experience anything hands on, but I heard a lot of "be careful"s. The waiters, for instance, would tell us to make sure that we kept our hands on all of our things when sitting outside. The hostel owners would constantly warn us, telling us about those who'd been robbed in town the previous day. Incidentally, one guy on a bicycle unsuccessfully tried to grab Tucker's camera out of his hands riding by.
All the dangers aside, I had a fun time in Valparaiso.
The port area wasn't very nice and appeared dodgy at all times of the day (as with any port town, I suppose). Everything else, though, was quite nice. Hey, it didn't become a UNESCO Heritage for no reason!First day, we stayed in town to climb the many ascensores (tiny elevator-like things that take you up the hills for about 300CHP) and walk around the neighborhoods. Cerro Allegre (me thinks) is the famous one everyone goes up for the view of the port. I personally didn’t find it all that – it's a lot of shipment containers. But I did LUV this cat (although not a cat fan in general). He/she obviously thought that sunbathing on a book was a great idea. Looking comfy!!!
Second day, we took the bus to the beach side resort town of Vina del Mar. Nothing spectacular to mention. It was just an ordinary beach (deserted this day because of the poor, cold weather) with a bunch of high rise condos. You could be walking in Miami minus the sun. After a lunch of Mexican food (don't ask), Gina and I went for a
pedicure : ) It's been too long since I last had one! Wasn’t the cheapest thing (10,000CHP), but my feet definitely looked pretty afterwards. Waru was content and happy!
We returned to Valparaiso late in the afternoon to see Gina off. She was flying to her next continent (Oceania) tonight. Lucky, lucky, lucky... I would love to see Australia's western coast, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia, etc. There are just waaaaaaay too many fantastic places to visit on earth. But not enough time and money. Sigh.
That night, I went out for a pretty nice dinner at a hilltop restaurant with Tucker and another guy from the hostel. The food was delicious (ahi ahi) and we all enjoyed the night views. Happy to say we encountered nada problems on our walk to & from the restaurant.
Tucker left the next morning for a Chilean wine tour, and I was on my own for most of the afternoon. There was only one thing remaining in Valparaiso that I wanted to see – La Sebastiana. It's one of the homes where Pablo Neruda, the famous Chilean poet, lived. And let me just admit right here that I've never heard of his poetry... But I can say that he lived in a very cute house. Hehe.
Even though the hostel staff advised me to take a cab to the museum, I opted to walk. Since it was during the day, and I wasn't planning on carrying any valuables, it should be fine. And it was. Not that it was the most comfortable walk...the streets were deserted of people but full of stray dogs, there were lots of steep inclines, and you had to be constantly aware of where to step – poop galore!!! A father and daughter pair droving by in a van seemed a bit concerned about my wandering on my own and stopped to offer me a lift. When I declined, they advised me to "be careful and keep a tight grip on the camera"! What is it with this city and cameras?!?!?!
I didn't take my SLR along for obvious reasons, but I'm glad I had my old, cheap, can-be-stolen-or-lost camera to take shots of the typical aged, colorful houses that Valparaiso is famous for:
Natalie arrived in town later on, so we hung out for the rest of the evening and overstuffed ourselves with a huuuuuge chorrillana (French fries topped with steak and onions). She's spending the rest of the year here to join in on the New Year’s festivities; Valparaiso is apparently THE PLACE TO PARTY for New Years. Not really my kind of thing. Instead, I'm heading back to Santiago tomorrow for some more Spanish classes and then moving down south somewhere. Since we'll both be in South America for a few more months, we're definitely meeting up again! Hopefully.
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