View of the port.
View of the houses on the hill.
After everybody had settled in, we all set off to visit La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda' s homes. Now, in case you didn't know, Valpo is essentially built on a giant hill, and Pablo Neruda's home has one of the most amazing views of the city and water, which means we spent about 20 minutes walking up extremely steep hills. But the views of the city and the graffiti were amazing and, after what was probably one of the most horrifying hikes of my life, we finally arrived at the house. It's a very peculiar home, with 5 floors and peculiar rooms, but the views were indeed spectacular.
Some brightly colored houses and a brightly colored car :)
Street view.
La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's house.
After the tour, we headed to the market to grab some lunch. Since we were at the top of Valpo and the market was at the bottom, everybody climbed onto a bus. Now, this might actually have been one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had. Buses in that area are basically glorified vans, so we had 32 people crammed into seats and about 20 people standing pretty much wherever there was floor space. As if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, we then had to start our descent through the steep and winding roads of the city. This driver was taking hairpin turns at what felt like 60 mph and people are literally flying around the bus. I actually had to shut my eyes some of the time because I didn't want to see the 100ft drop-offs at the side of the road. However we did make it safely to the bottom of the hill and it was certainly better than walking!
View of the market.
A group of guys that starting playing in the middle of lunch.
What the heck is that piano like instrument?
It has a tube that you blow into...
When everybody had finished eating, we walked around a bit and saw the sites. We visited this giant statue/monument to the Chilean military which was really cool and saw a lot of murals and graffiti work. We even got to ride up one of Valpo's famous ascensores, which technically means elevator. But in Valparaiso it refers to these large outdoor elevator-like contraptions that take you up giant hills. Kind of like a ski lift, but on the ground. They are a little scary, but a quick and cheap way to get to the top of a hill. (It cost around 20 cents.)
Me standing in front of the military monument.
Graffiti
View of the ascensor from the bottom.
Once we returned to our hostel (after walking down several flights of very sketchy looking stairs in dark alleys) we had an asado or barbeque. And waited to head out the club. In Chile, nobody goes out the clubs until at least midnight, and even that is a little early, but people start drinking around 10pm, which is exactly what everybody did. Lucky for us, there was a liquor store right across the street. One thing I have to say, is that liquor can be super cheap here. I bought basically a fifth of this Mango Pisco mixed drink and a quart of pineapple juice for $7. The Mango Pisco would have cost $15 alone back home, but I am certainly not complaining! So after 2 hours of drinking Mango Pisco, wine, sangria, and of course straight shots of Pisco, everybody was ready to head out to the club and do some dancing. The club was named Huevo and had 5 floors for dancing, all with different types of music. We got a free drink with our ticket so I got a Piscola which is just Pisco and coke. Even though I'm not a huge fan of dancing, it was a lot of fun and a group of us ended up leaving around 3:30am, which is actually a bit early, but we had had a long day!
Me, Katerine, & Mike hanging out in the hostel before going out.
I think Katerine was a little prendida (colombian slang for tipsy)... :)
Club Huevo (which means egg...)
Me, Katerine, & Mike hanging out in the hostel before going out.
I think Katerine was a little prendida (colombian slang for tipsy)... :)
Club Huevo (which means egg...)
A group of us inside the club.
And so ended my first day in Valparaiso. :)
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