Valpo... te amo

5213 11.1287 This past weekend Morgan, Tina and I decided to take a trip to the city of Valparaíso. Buses run from Santiago every 10 minutes or so, cost about $7, and the trip is an hour and a half- super facil (easy)!

Valparaíso is a city of hills surrounding a still very industrial port city. Ships used to come here to be serviced and painted, and the workers would use left over paint for their houses. Today almost every building is a lemon yellow, cotton-candy pink, or of course a sea blue. Not surprisingly, the art scene here is really strong and there are murals and mosaics everywhere you walk and there is music coming out of many windows. We stopped in a café for afternoon coffee, and Morgan decided to bust out her piano skills on the dusty, semi-functional instrument in the corner. I guess there must be something in the air!

The city is an absolute maze. We had booked a hostel in advance and the directions were to get to a plaza, go behind the department store, make a left at the red house, a right at the pink house, and look for a green doorway that was the entrance to an ascensor (elevator, or in this case a funicular, a little tram that goes up and down the hills). We were dubious of this treasure hunt, but actually found our way sin problema.

We spent most of the day wandering up and down the cerros (hills), risking the slightly rickety ascensors- some of them were built in the 18oo’s! We found a great place for lunch, an even better place for ice cream, did some shopping, met a friendly dog who played tour guide for an hour, and took a zillion photos (being a tourist can be so much fun!). At one point we were taking pictures of a cute dog sleeping on a ledge, and a group of taxi drivers waved us across the street to show us something lindo (cute). We were all a little dubious, but it turned out to be a giant fluffy cat sleeping on its back and all stretched out! It was really cute and funny, and they all seemed to be more entertained with how entertained WE were and started teasing the cat with a towel. That is a close second to my favorite “cat in a box!” and also “dog in a box!”

We met up with Dominik, a German medical student traveling on his summer holiday, and the four of us ventured out to find a Thai restaurant we saw earlier (we have yet to find a Thai place in Santiago. Oh how I miss Marnee Thai being steps from my front door!) Sadly, the place was totally booked for the night. We promptly made reservations for the following day, but then had to find a new place to eat.

The Valpo gods must have been smiling down on us, because we ended up at Vinila, a cozy restaurant that specializes in authentic Chilean food with a modern twist. The waiter came over and explained each of the 6 dishes to us in great detail- in Spanish of course. And we understood it ALL!! Cow tongue (lengua de vaca), conejo (rabbit), something with seaweed (alga), salmon with a crust of tea, and of course, codorniz relleno con queso Philadelphia y membrillo- quail stuffed with cream cheese and a type of firm quince marmalade. No joke- when you combine food words with animal words and speak clearly, the three of us are amazing at Spanish! When you say, hello, good morning, I hope you have a pleasant day, we will stare open mouthed and confused. At least we have the important stuff down…

Because they probably didn’t believe we understood, the chef came over and went through everything again in a mix of Spanish and English. Tina decided to try the quail, and when it came out it was the smallest plate of food EVER. The little quail looked like it was trying to crawl off the plate, but was the size of a parakeet or little lovebird. We all were dying of laughter, especially when she realized it was even harder to eat than it was to look at. The waiter told her to use her hands, and when she refused he drew her a picture of a hand, just to clarify.

The rest of the food was delicious, and both the waiter and chef then gave us recommendations of the best places to go out drinking and dancing including directions (at the bottom of the hill walk towards the ocean, turn left at the second street and right just after, go down the first set of stairs, look for the unmarked door and ask for Lucas…) However, we had plans to go to the oldest bar in Valpo where there is a band with an accordion player. It really doesn’t get more entertaining!

The next morning we went to the poet Pablo Neruda’s house just up the hill from our hostel. One of the best things I have seen! The man had a great sense of humor and a great sense of style. The views from all the windows were incredible, and all of the things he collected were fantastical. My favorite was a large whit porcelain cow tureen from Italy that he filled with punch for his parties. Genius!!

We meandered over to our lunch spot and had amazing vistas of the hills and the sea. Thai food did not disappoint- my rice even came with the image of an elephant dusted on it in spices! Yummm.

On our way to the bus station we met the cutest, tiniest puppy in the world. A perfect end to a perfect weekend!