You either love Valparaiso or you hate it! Thats what we were told by ¨Santiago Scott¨sitting at the bus station waiting for the bus to Valpo. He´s a bit of a character our Scott...creepy character... well intentioned as he is, he hangs around the bus station looking for travelers and then imparts his vast knowledge of Chile and S.America whether you want to listen or not! He was right about one thing though...you either love Valpo or you hate it! We loved it!!!
It feels like a truly South American city....and yet it could be in the back streets of Rome at the same time. Valpo is one of those...ït was the best of times, it was the worst of times kind of city. Near the shore on the flat micro center all you see is the Spanish imported classical arcitechture, monuments to Roman Gods, parks and grand churches. In the Andean hills (Cerros) surrounding the harbour town you find the grittier dirtier side of Valpo. Houses built on houses and then built on again reaching to the sky. The old and new melt together here, fired by the graffitti that is evident everywhere, the multicoloured houses, the birds nest they call electrical wiring, the poverty, the affluence. Both rich and poor huff and puff as they walk the narrow stairways up the ¨Cerros¨ unless they are catching a lift with one of the antique ¨ascendors¨ (a lift come tram build for 6). Going for a walk we quickly realised the reason for the ascendors existance... Valpo is ¨loco¨ steep and some assistance is often needed unless you want rickety knees by the age of 27.
Our hostel was as crazy as Valpo itself, once upon a time it was probably a palace, high ceilings...with damp....mosaic tiles...with mold and wooden floors which now squeak and creak with ever footstep... but in a good way. The walls look like they have been painted by a the local kinder garden (only primary colours are used) and nothing matches but there is a fun feel to the place and we loved it at first sniff.
Most days in Valpo we just walked around, our jaws gathering dust off the floor as we gaped at the most interesting city we have ever seen. Once or twice we climbed the ¨Cerros¨ to see the views and admire the murals. In Cerro Bella Vista they actually have an outdoor museum of wall murals, its a steep walk but its worth the sweat. We also managed to waste 5000 Chilean Pesos on seeing Paublo Nuestra House (never take advice from an ¨I ¨specialist), he´s a Nobel Prize winning poet and has some interesting choices in furniture...but not THAT interesting dammit!
We also met some really cool Israelis! They have a pretty bad rep here in S.America and they (the Israelis) know it but they taught us some great drinking games which ended with Vix having to dance on a pole through a SEVEN minute techno trance song outside a Metal bar .... never take a bet with an Israeli!!! They know something you dont! After that we went to Club Huevos (Club Eggs), watched some Salsa, butchered some Salsa dancing Gringo style then found the rock floor with the local Nirvana cover band.
After a day at the beach (it was raining so we watched a movie) it was time to get out of Valpo, the Mavrix had itchy feet again and this time it wasnt because of wearing the same socks 4 days in a row.
Next destination .... Cordoba.
P.S. The road through the Andes as previously described is extremely very pretty and very steep! The photo on the right shows just how hecticly the road curves down the mountain, the sight of this is the reason that M will be carrying scratch mark scars in his arms for the rest of his life, V peeked through her fingers at this like a 7 year old watching her first horror flick. Good times...
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