Valparaiso, Chile

The bus ride to Valparaiso was amazing. Yes, 8 hours in a bus was amazing. We each had VIP seats, which were giant/cushioned recliners, got served snacks and lunch and the boys were a little under the weather and slept almost the entire trip in their own seat. MAGICAL!

When you walk out of the bus terminal in Valpo, there are food carts dishing up empanadas, stuffed bread, meat skewers amd other tasty treats. We were very pumped to see street food.  Argentina really lacks street food, but they have steak. We loved Valparaiso almost instantly and are very happy with our decision to stay here a bit longer than Santiago.

Our apartment is on the waterfront and has a pool on the 5th floor terrace as well as a rooftop terrace. We will have a great view for the New Years fireworks. We set out to explore and get some dinner. We ended up at a Mexican joint that was pricy but tasty and afforded us out first views of the incredible street art here in Valparaiso. (Just know that I will post a separate blog with street art and general Valparaiso shots in it. There are far too many to choose from for this post.)

Valparaiso is a city made up of 45 (although this number is a bit disputed) hills (cerros) that shoot up from the coastline, Each hill represents a unique neighbourhood. Access to the neighbourhoods is aheived easily using old funicular systems throughout the city. We headed to explore our first cerro, Alagre using the ascensor Reina Victoria.

On our way home we were sure to get one of Chile's best street foods, a completo. It's a hotdog smothered in avocado and mayo and it's delicious!

We've been running along the waterfront and found a couple of diveshop. So, of course we sign up for a 2 tank dive the next day. In Chile, in the Pacific, in the beginning of their summer. At our dive briefing, we learn that the water is about 12 degrees or so as we watch almost everyone on our boat don a dry suit. This is going to be an experience. We were scheduled for 2 wreak dives and after the shock of getting into the water in my 7mm wetsuit with extra caul and vest, I opted not to go down for the second one. The visibility was awful and the thought of getting back into the water made me sick. While the second dives was supposedly better than the first for marine life, Luke said I didn't miss much. Lesson learned, we are not cold water divers, at least not without a dry suit.

We warmed up with some beers and great burgers at the dive shop after and talked to a few of the owners about Chilean and Canadian life. Interesting and friendly guys who made the pain of the ice bath a bit more justified. That night we sampled some more of Chile's famous street food and got some chorrillana, which are the Chilean version of poutine. Fries covered in meat and cheese and sauce. So good!

The next couple of days were spent exploring the streets and being a bit lazy. Valparaiso is a bit more expensive than we anticipated, so we've been cooking for ourselves at dinner for the most part.

On New Years Eve day, Isa and I went on a photography/shopping/cafes and empanadas date. Our initial café was a bust, but we easily found another delicious one close by. We ventured up through cerro Concepcion, Alegre and Yugoslavo. We had the most delicious empanadas at le Pato. We found a couple of incredible art studios, our favorites being Fabrika and Sebastian Varas Mackenzie, where we bought a few pieces and headed home for dinner and new years celebrations.

We were pretty bummed we had been told we could watch the fireworks from the rooftop 28th floor , only to find out we were down graded to the 5th floor...but the view was still spectacular. There were 5 seaside towns working in unison to set off the display and it was impressive. That coupled with a little rooftop champagne, sleeping children and some pisco sours made for an enjoyable night.

Apparently we were the party poopers going to bed at 2am, because the rest of Valpo was out in full force until 7am....the streets were full of bottles, confetti, food and various New Years wears the next morning. I'm happy to report also that we finished our Harry Potter marathon :) I can start 2019 on the right foot.

The next couple of days were fairly low key again. More delicious food...mostly in empanada form. Chilean empanadas are quite larger than Argentinian ones. We've had some tasty ones here, esp at Empanadas Famosas.

Our last day in Valpo was spent on a street art tour. We brought the boys with us and started the day with dessert for breakfast.

How can you have a bad day when cake is for breakfast?! Well it was all downhill from here. The tour was interesting, I think. Mostly the kids were losing it, sitting out in the sun and strapped into a stroller. I spent most of my time away from the guide so the other tour patrons could hear what was going on. We did get some great views and I got to see more street art, which was a plus.

We leave this evening for Santiago. I am sad to be leaving this beautiful and vibrant city. If you ever find yourself looking for an interesting and lively vacation, I highly recommend Valpo.....my guess is it's even better without kids....

It's on our "definitely returning to" list. Alright Santiago, you have a lot to live up to.