Wednesday, July 20, 2011

South America, Days 16-17: Valparaiso, Chile

Took a bus this morning from Santiago to Valparaiso. This is the last time I saw the top part of my backpack, with my electronics in it.

Valparaiso is a city of hills: very steep hills. To get up them, you can take cable cars/funiculars known as ascensores for a few hundred pesos (around a dollar):


Alternatively, you can take the stairs:

The hills facing the coast make for awesome views, such as this one from Pablo Neruda's house La Sebastiana:


Valparaiso is also known for its street art - like graffiti, except awesome. There's even a whole open-air museum dedicated to it (though, honestly, I thought the stuff outside the designated museum was better). This is just a small sample:


Valparaiso also has excellent food, especially seafood. From top: razor clams in parmesan, roasted sea bass in butter sauce, gnocchi with shrimp in cream sauce, and steamed (some kind that I don't remember) fish with risotto.


There's also a church on Cerro Alegre which has free organ concerts on Sunday afternoons. Very cool.

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