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My first encounter with Valpariso was that it was much trashier than Santiago but once I got up to the nicer barrios, I realized why everyone loved this place. It's a coastal town set with hills and cobble stone streets, similar to San Francisco but smaller streets and steeper hills. The Uber wasn't able to drop my off right outside my hotel as you had to walk to it from the street. I arrived and new I had picked a good hotel as it was quite fancy and set on the very top with stunning views of the ocean and boats. The town was so colorful yet it was cloudy that day. I was able to check into my room early and walked across the street to the rooftop restaurant that was crowded and ordered my first ceviche! It was so delicious, reminded me of the one in Costa Rica, but less sweet. I relaxed and admired the views and then walked around until it got dark. I was shocked by the many hills and steps of this town, but it was beautiful! I was so tired by dark so I made myself a bath (was so excited as it had been 6 months since I had taken a bath) and got some wine and relaxed. I woke up in time for 11am breakfast and then ventured out again to explore the town. It was another cloudy day but that was alright because I was so out of breath at times, walking all the way to this one park set up really high on the hill. I got lunch at this other place near my hotel that had really yummy burgers and then saw this jewelry store set underneath and found something for my mom while chatting with the guy from Patagonia about my travels - he was very interested in traveling solo. I called it a night and sat at the hotel for dinner, while blogging a bit and then made myself a bath again. The following morning I decided it was time to check out my ear as it was bothering me during the flight from BA to Santiago and didn't seem right. Thankfully the hotel receptionist was able to call an express clinic that came to the hotel!!! It was super convenient as I would have had to wait in the waiting room at any clinic and it would have taken hours. It was quite expensive ($80 for the visit/check) but I have travel insurance so I submitted a claim obviously as this happened on my trip. I sat outside on my balcony as it was a sunny day and did some spa things for myself and then they arrived at my room. The doc checked my ear and found out that I did have a small hole in it, perforated about .05cm is what he said. Unfortunately he said I shouldn't go surfing or sky diving and that I need antibiotics and to let it heal. I was bummed that this happened but thankful that I got it checked and didn't wait longer. But I do need to go see a specialist when I get home to make sure it's been healed or see what I need to do. Once I was done with the doc, I walked around and got the prescription and stopped at a coffee shop and then a bar (Beer House) right at the bottom of the hill where there was this cracked out lady bothering people. Thankfully the waiter made her leave as she sat at my table and I wouldn't have known what to do but stayed calm. Once that was all done, I went back to my room, did some yoga, and then went to another restaurant to eat. It was a quiet night as its was Sunday and no one in the restaurant but I tried the Salmon and it was really yummy with the tangy sauce and quinoa on the side. I relaxed and went to bed early that night and the next day I decided to do some planning as I hadn't planned NZ or AU so I did that for a few hours and then walked to the port/water and enjoyed the views of all the ships and then went to this place I had looked up that had this corn with meat dish that was the most delicious meal I think I had in all of Chile. Also tried this local ginger beer that was also sooo yummy. Afterwards I was super full so I decided to move around and do some yoga and then showered and went to the restaurant down the street for a small prawns dinner. There were skateboarders skating loud near my hotel some nights, music playing other nights, tourists and locals walking around. Valpariso was a really hip and neat place and I had stayed in a wealthier barrio but glad I did because there were some real bad areas I'm sure and tons of stray dogs and trashy parts. I made friends with the receptionist at the hotel as he really helped me out with my ear and such. My last day I packed up and stored my bags and went to the same restaurant I had gone to the first day I arrived, Fauna. I ordered some coffee and then a nice salad with procuitto, again so yummy. It was super hot and I was trying to buy some flights as I ate but my laptop was. Getting too hot so I turned it off and then left around 3pm to meet Carito back in Santiago to go to Pichilemu (another coastal town).