Today we had the whole day to explore Valparaiso and all the delights it had on offer. The first thing I noticed was it was sunny and warm - about 25 degrees with a cool breeze - like a comfortable hot English summers day. So finally my shorts could come out of the bag after a month on the road. After a hearty breakfast with fresh strawberries and banana (the hostel we are staying at is run by a Chilean-British couple so the breakfasts are considerably better!) we walked for about an hour round the suburbs up on the hills around Valparaiso. Th city is definitely made of two halves...the busy industrialised downtown area on the flat and the colonial friendly feel of the suburbs stretching uphill to the surrounding 42 hills! Here graffiti artists have decorated the city (mostly very tastefully) with painted views of the Spanish influenced architecture and the sea and ships below. One area has even been dedicated as an open air art museum due to the quality and quantity of wall paintings.

On reaching the downtown area after a steep downhill walk we found ourselves on a really busy main road headed towards the port. It was a far from pleasant 10 minute walk before we reached the bustling harbour. It was not really the sort of quaint harbour we are used to when visiting Devon and Cornwall. Huge container ships were emptying their loads and lots of smaller tourist boats touted for business trying to offer hour long tours round the harbour. We declined the offer and instead found ourselves a little local restaurant to sample the fresh fish. Scott had mussels and I had seafood soup which had just about everything in it- yummy!

We prepared ourselves for hefty struggle back up the hill to our hostel but surprised ourselves as it wasn't nearly as bad as expected....we can really notice the difference now we are away from altitude. There are loads of little stairways winding up through the streets which made the climb more comfortable.

After a hour chilling back in our room (Scott having a snooze and me reading my novel) we headed out to the local corner shop to get some supplies for dinner. On the way we stopped at a bench in a small park overlooking the sea and watched the world go by as the evening sun set in. We laughed at group of lads probably in their early 20's trying to do some kind of street gymnastics, and failing miserably despite filming the whole thing!

Dinner was crunchy baked potatoes done in the oven and my home made guacamole and tomato salad (avacado is so cheap here ...I love them!)