Valparaìso said to be the weekend play ground for Santiago's rich and famous. A beautiful port city rich with cobbled steets winding high into the mountains and some of the most amazing graffiti art you'll see. Our hostel was basically the top floor of a guys house that he'd converted the rooms into bunks toque a little more back packer friendly. Arriving late in the afternoon we were keen to wonder off quick to find a nice lookout for some Friday arvo froffies. We found a nice restaurant a street away from ours that had a top level that stood far higher than the surrounding buildings. Although the top level wasn't open the staff agreed to let us up there for a few cerveazas. The view was unbelievable! Sipping back icy cold coronas was up there with the best beer spots I'd had to date. Got myself an order of cerbeca a Chilean delicacy of raw salmon and a salsa of capsicum, corn and onion was very tasty!
The boys were keen to kick on for more beers afterwards but I was feeling as though I still wasn't quite up to it and called it a night back at the hostel. They were only gone another hour or so before they did the same.
Had a great little breaky the next morning at a cafe next door that gave the necessary fuel for a long walking your around the city. Checking out the port, fire stations, historic buildings and a lot of the towns famous street art. Got told a funny story about a statue that resides at the front of Valparaìso's courthouse.
A rich French guy who was in a relationship with a female judge some 100 Years ago got caught having an affair with another women. The judge framed him and he was charged with murder. As he was so rich he paid his way out but had to return to his home country with a very bitter taste in his mouth. His retaliation was prefect! Sending a beautiful made statue (unknown by Valparaìso government it was from him) of lady justice in a very proactive stance, giving the forks, holding an upside down crucifix, not blind folded and hold a pretty corrupt looking set of scales. The Valparaìso government loved it so much they positioned on the steps of their courthouse, the French bloke would of had to of been frothing, pretty hilarious when you actually get to see it!!
We went to the supermarket on the way home with lawn a kiwi guy we met on the tour and headed back to the patio at our hostel for an Asado. Rack of ribs, snags, fresh corn, few capsicums , some rolls and of course a few slabs of beer and we were set. One of the hostel owners showed us the real Chilean way to get the hot coals cranking, going to be very useful for the rest of my time away. After smashing through the beers and BBQ we were all pretty keen to seek out some nightlife. Within 30mins of leaving the first pub we were pretty much all separated. I was left with lawn and another aussie lad from the tour Evan. We got conned into going to some club with a few local Chileans which was pretty sketchy. The English speaking DJ came up and warned me about the people we came in with and that was all me and Evan needed to make an early exit. The fact Evan nearly was in an altercation as we were trying to made me pretty confident we'd picked the wrong joint. Shortly into our walk back home Evan received a kick in his back by a local guy from back at the club... Could of easily put this little Chilean peasant to sleep but decided no good could probably come from it so we just walked on. Seeing his other mate in tow yielding a sledge hammer confirmed that our best call was to just get the f*** out of there. Got a cab back to the hostel and was pretty filthy because it was only like 3am. Had a great night sleep and was fun piecing stories together with the boys the next morning. Greasy hangover cure breaky of papas fritas (French fries) , scrambled eggs, grilled onion, and lomo (thin steak); a local specialty ! Little walk around the port and then hopped on a bus to the beach - vina del mar. Nice open beach with a long abandoned pier stretching out into the ocean similar to Kurnell. Walked the length almost and went for very quick dip as the water was pretty icy. Drip dried and decided to pub crawl our way back to the start of the beach, it was st Patrick's day so thought it only fitting we have an early start. Got back into town and mark whipped together a pasta feed for tea and we then decided to head out in search for an Irish pub- we were horrified when we found that it was closed ! On st Patrick's day! Cruised home and called it a night.
Checked out the next morning and had breakfast at the Melbourne cafe in the plaza. Made our way to the bus terminal and boarded a bus for a little coastal town a few hours north called maitenecillo.