Valparaiso

We were able to catch a bus to Valparaiso at pretty much any time during the day, so we leisurely headed to the bus station and were able to board a bus leaving 10 minutes later. The bus ride was less than two hours, so we got into town around 2:00pm. We headed to "Hostal Casa Adventura" which had gotten good reviews and although they didn't have any private rooms available, they had a three person dorm that no one was in so we ended up essentially getting our own room for a cheaper price. Luckily, there was a walking tour that began at 3:00pm so we headed right out to check out the city. Valparaiso has a lot of classical architecture since a lot of Eurpoeans had moved to the city in its heyday. The city used to be a major port town but then with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the city was abandoned and fell into an economic depression. It is now the poorest city in Chile.

One interesting fact is that all of the firefighters in Chile are volunteers and because of this it is a very respected position in Chilean culture. In Valparaiso, the fire departments are divided culturally so there is one run by German people, one run by Spanish people etc. There is a station for each ethnicity and only people that are of that ethnicity can work there.

The city definitely has a grafiti culture which you can find evidence of just about everywhere. It gives Valparaiso a very interesting, artistic feel and you can understand a lot about how people are feeling about their culture and the current politics from what they paint. The city was on strike during the time we were there, demanding higher wages for government jobs. Because of this, trash was not being collected and ended up piling sky high on the side walks. It was really gross but made you very aware of the conflict.

Following the tour, we decided to try the empanadas our guide said were the best in Valparaiso. We tried a "piña" which have beef, egg and olive. We were both unimpressed; I don't think we'll ever understand the appeal of these empanadas.

We decided to go out in search of a salad since nothing we had eaten that day included a vegetable. Our hostel recommended a restaurant called "Fauna" which had amazing views of the city. Our salads were great and the restaurant really did have a wonderful atmosphere. I particularly enjoyed the little plastic animals on each table. Our donkey looked rabid which cracked me up.

After dinner, we headed to the oldest bar in Valparaiso, "Cinzano". We had heard that the waiters all dressed in bow ties and it had an old time feel, but sadly there were no bow ties to be found. All the men who worked there were old but the atmosphere in there was pretty dead, so we only had one drink. I tried their sangria but I'm not sure there was any alcohol in it.

The town didn't have much of a nightlife, so we headed back to the hostel after our drink. It is a very hilly city, so it's a bit of a hike to get anywhere but that isn't too bad since its good exercise and it warms you up a bit in the freezing weather.

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