Valparaíso

bars and boats and all the doggos

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It is a short bus ride from Santiago de Chile to the little beach town of Valparaíso. Arriving downtown you wouldn't think much of the place.
There's the usual hustle and bustle of port cities, but once we get to the hostel and take a cute little funicular up to Cerro Concepcíon, we get to see an unusually quaint and colorful neighborhood with street art on every corner, cozy coffeeshops, little places selling arts and crafts and narrow roads, allowing for some great views of the city and the sea.

While eating a most delicious slice of cake, we get to know local good boy Chino, who greets (and gets greeted by) everyone passing by. His name tag states that he is not to be fed.

We walk around, take pictures and find a restaurant situated on a steep cliff, overlooking the city and the port and despite the windy conditions and the strong sun, we end up spending the whole afternoon drinking piscos and talking to a couple from San Francisco.

We shop for the next day, I get to pet the friendliest store cat and we drink more piscos and play Yatzee at a bar before hitting the hay early to catch our morning connection to La Serena.Read more