Valparaiso, Chile

At the end of our month in Santiago, we spent one week in the coastal port city of Valparaiso. We loved Valparaiso and actually wished we had spent more time in Valparaiso and less in Santiago, although we really treasured the time that we did have. Valparaiso is only a 90 minute drive from Santiago but feels very different. For starters, the weather is much cooler and more pleasant given that it’s right on the water. While downtown Santiago is fairly flat, Valparaiso is full of maze-like hills with colorful homes and back alleyways. The city is full of amazing street art and is a great city to walk around, particularly if you want a good workout walking up the hills! We stayed in a small apartment that was about a 15-minute walk from the main touristy area. Our apartment was on the lower level of the home of a nice couple, although only one of them (Michael) was there when we were there. Our place had great views of the water, a very sweet doggo, and a freakishly cuddly cat. Michael was also extremely hospitable — he had us up for lunch on our first day and let us use his porch to watch the fireworks since he was away on New Years Eve.

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For our first few days we were lucky enough to still have Shari’s sister Maya and brother-in-law Mike in town. Valparaiso is divided into different hills (“cerro’s”), and we spent the beginning of our trip walking around the main touristy hills of Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion. There are a bunch of nice restaurants in these areas that have patios with amazing views, so we enjoyed some great meals with beautiful sunset views.

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Our first full day was spent exploring the neighboring town of Vina del Mar, which is a beachfront community about a 15-20 minute drive from Valparaiso. We walked around a nice park, had lunch on the waterfront, and walked along the beach and the boardwalk. Although some people were swimming, we were not quite brave enough (it was only about 70 degrees and the water was not very warm).

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The following day we went on an a full-day private tour of Valparaiso with an amazing guide named Christian who came recommended by a friend of Davy’s. Christian was extremely friendly and unbelievably knowledgeable about Valparaiso and Chile, and it was really interesting to learn more about the city and visit some parts of the city that we otherwise may not have visited. Christian told us more about the city and the ways in which the city came to be the unique place that it is. For example, he told us how people painted their homes with leftover paint from the ships that came to the port (thus giving the city its color) and how people keep building up the hills since you gain ownership of land after living it in for five years (there is a lot of poverty in Valparaiso and it would otherwise be very hard to own a home). We rode on many of the famous “ascensores” (elevators) that take you up the hills, visited the open air mural museum, stopped by La Sebastiana (Pablo Neruda’s home), explored the port, and had a tasty Chilean lunch. This was definitely a highlight of our week in Valparaiso.

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On Maya and Mike’s last day in Valparaiso, we drove about 45 minutes to visit wineries in the Casablanca Valley. Our main stop was Emiliana Vineyards, which is a beautiful organic winery with nice views of the mountains. We did a tour and tasting and learned about the organic wine-making process, which was interesting (although after going on many wine tours, we are still complete newbs). We then tried to go to some other wineries but had difficulty getting a spot, so we had a very nice lunch at a restaurant near the town. After another nice dinner with a view, it was sadly time to say goodbye to Maya and Mike and spend the last few days in Valparaiso on our own.

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The following day was New Years Eve, and Shari had to work during the day before the evening festivities. We had dinner at one of the few places we could find that wasn’t offering an insanely pricey prix fixe menu then had a drink outside on Ecuador Street, a lively street near our Airbnb with tons of little bars and more of a local feel. While we were deciding what to do, we met a few friendly Kiwis and went with them to a party nearby. Unfortunately there was not much space at the party (nor was there a good view of the fireworks), so we went back to our Airbnb with the Kiwis and watched the fireworks which Valparaiso is famous for (they put on a synchronized fireworks show all down the coast). After the fireworks we walked around downtown a little bit to see all the festivities and people in the street before eventually calling it a night around 3am (we were very proud of ourselves given that we’ve been going to bed at around 10:30pm every night).

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For our last few days in Valparaiso, we had to work during the day (except for New Years Day, when we drove to Vina del Mar again), so our exploring was saved for the evening. After work we walked around and had some tasty food, and at the end of the week we eventually had to say adios to Valparaiso. It was difficult to say goodbye to Valparaiso given how unique, beautiful, and lively it is, but we were very excited to fly down to Patagonia for a vacation (from our already vacation)!

SPICY BONUS PANORAMAS

SPICY BONUS PICS

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