SPOT THE CAT

Well, when we last left you we had departed Santiago, full of market food and got on bus to Valparaiso. After not even two hours we had arrived in the nearby port city. Our hostel was great (if a little hard to find - no signs on the outside whatsoever!) and a hidden plus was no one spoke any English! So we got a little practice in, even on our first night in town. The building of the hostel was very old with lots of big staircases and high ceilings. Very nice. We were excited to start exploring the city next morning and made our way to the main square. This faces on to the port and includes a huge blue Navy building and related memorial- Valparaiso (or Valpo for short) has a long naval history and is still Chile's primary naval base, with ships constantly docking and drills going on near the harbour. Speaking of Valaparaiso's history, the city had its hey day before the Panama Canal was completed in 1914, when it was a primary entrance to South America and a convenient stop when ships had to circumnavigate the continent instead of sailing right through it. Unfortunately a terra moto (earth quake) destroyed much of Valaparaiso's infrastructure in the early 19th century also killing many people and they had to rebuild many things from scratch. Anyways, as far as recent history, 5 years ago, the entire city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and tourism increased three fold, meaning more trendy little suburbs and a lot more people coming to see the city's multi coloured houses built into the surrounding hills, the ascensors (very steep cable car kind things) leading up these hills and the fascinating working sea port. Back to our day, we then took a walk west to experience one of the aforementioned ascensors. They make a quick trip up the steepest hills in towns, helping locals with their shopping and helping tourists avoid walking up all those stairs!! At the top of the hill were some incredible views and a nice looking naval building, now used as a museum. Next up I wanted to visit a museum on one of the hills, which I had read about in my (not so) trusty lonely planet. We examined the map ripped out of said guide book and made our way to the museum. OK not there, where it says Number 17. We pretty much made our way just by keeping one eye on what I suspected to be the building, though it took us on a nice walk through the neighbour hood of Cerro Alegre. But when we got there it was closed for renovations! A little disappointing seeing as the building looked amazing from the outside (art deco style with beautiful grounds) and I'm sure would have been even better inside. Oh well! So we ate our lunch at a great look out nearby and contemplated what to do next. We ended up just strolling through the adjoining neighbourhoods, full of cafes, street art (see pics) and great houses. We even bumped into an American family we had met a few days before at Isla Negra. They were lovely and I think it's a great thing that they are taking their teenagers traveling to see some of the world but we had to giggle later after we learned their names - Buffy, Blaine, Taylor and Zac - so American!!! We also had fun playing Spot the Cat- up trees, on roofs, in high window sills, cats are everywhere in Valpo! I guess also worth mentioning is the fact that (maybe not in these fancier suburbs but in the centro) Valparaiso is a little rough around the edges- rubbish and dogs everywhere, falling down and burnt our houses etc. Though it must be said, at times it only adds to the charm! After all this working we were ready to make some dinner, play with the hostel's resident kitten Mia for awhile and head to bed!

CRAPTACULAR!

The next day, despite being the sunniest during our stay, was spent doing, well, not very much. In the morning, we had decided to go and check out the Museo de Cielo Abierto or Open-air museum. This is essentially a self guided tour through some nearby streets, passing by some of the area's best graffiti/stencil art - at least, that was the description according to the Lonely Planet. The idea sounded really cool. However, instead of coolness, we were soon met with one of the most disappointing experiences of our lives. Seriously. While the alleys we explored were indeed lined with street art, most of it was done circa 1990 and had obviously not received any love or affection since. The obnoxious 'tags' on top of the pieces, combined with the natural deterioration from the harsh salt air, had made some of the works almost unrecognizable, and definitely paled in comparison to the stencils we had seen wandering around the previous day. Thanks again Lonely Planet!

HAPPY HILL

After this disappointing guide book experience, we decided to do a bit of freestyle wandering, and ended up back at the docks where we had spent some of the previous day. Here we took a little guided boat trip out past some of the docked ships and naval vessels, and returned to the dock for some lunch and churros! Yum! Afterwards, though, we returned home and spent the afternoon at the hostel, mostly doing administration, but later that night returned to the trendy part of town Cerro Alegre (roughly translates into Happy Hill- doesn't sound quite as romantic in English) where we had been the previous day. There, we indulged in a dinner of tasty pizza, with Rubber Soul playing in the background. Perfect!

HEART ATTACK (ON A PLATE)

We had enjoyed our first two days in Valparaiso so much, that we had decided to extend our stay one more day, in order to take part in a walking tour of some of the hills around the city. We returned to Cerro Alegre for the third day in a row (!) and met up with tour guide Bobby (an American expatriate), Duncan from Melbourne and Hilda from Holland. We wandered through the back of the city, exploring some fantastic viewpoints which revealed the Valparaiso from all angles. At the conclusion of our stroll (which included a brief return to Mueso Cielo Abierto!!!) we arrived at a restaurant for a delicious seafood lunch, glass of wine and tasty dessert, which was all included in the price of the tour. Later, after saying our goodbyes to our tour group, we made our way back to La Sebastiana - Pablo Neruda's house overlooking Valparaiso - which we had briefly passed through earlier with our group. Here, we were yet again amazed at his collections (unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside Neruda's houses) and four story abode, which surely had the best views in all of the city. Afterwards, we walked back down to our hostel, which was relatively close by, and spent about two hours chatting (in Spanish!) with our wonderful host, Eve, about all sorts of things. Like many other locals we've met she was very shocked at my revelation that I and many other Australians EAT "cangaroo" (yes they spell it differently in Spanish) and generally fascinated by the array of weird animals we have in our country. Later, after getting a great tip off, we headed to a hidden local gem called J. Cruz, famous among locals for the classic Chilean dish of Chorillana (which, I believe, roughly translates to heart attack on a plate. Check out the pictures for an example of the dish!). Here, we ate, drank and were merry, leaving our mark on the tables of the restaurant while enjoying the ambience of the two-man band performing to the packed hangout. All in all, it was a fitting way to spend our final day in Chile, before heading across the Andes, and back to the familiarity of Argentina.

Thanks for all the messages guys! Glad you received your bday pressies Charles and Amber and that they were in one piece. Thanks so much for reading Noelia, we really did fall in love with Chile and thought of your advice on the country often as we traveled around. Unfortunately we're on our last night in Mendoza now but thank you so much for the offer of contacting your cousin anyway. Hope the family is well!

Till Next Time, Besos

Hayley y Ryan