These few days have been amazing. Not only have been treated
like royalty, but we’ve made some really good friends in the process. As
Chelsea wrote in her last post our new friend, Sebastian, took us to his
family’s house on the Coast of Chile. Not only is this place a noted resort
spot, but it is also a wonderful place full of Chilean modern culture, from
literature, to art, to old architecture, amazing spray-painted street art, “dive”
bars and drunken artsy poets.
There is such a touch of home here too. The climate is
similar to California; the bay (that Valparaíso, Viña and Con
Con surround) reminds us of the Monterey Bay with seals, pelicans, cypress
trees, and a military school, while the beaches, sunsets, and overcast
mornings remind us of Oxnard/Ventura.
Part of why we’ve felt so at home here because we were living in a home for
three nights! Sebastian introduced us to his mama who showed us how to make
Chilean food (choripanes: toasted bread with chorizo and a salsa-like pico de
gallo sauce with Chilean chiles) and cocktails (Chilean pisco and Chilean sweet
vermouth) and barbecue, Chilean-style.
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| Taking a stroll in Con Con |
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| Sunsets remind us of home |
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| The only way you can tell it is not Cali is the Chilean flag! |
After a few days of the home treatment, Chelsea and I wanted
to check out Valparaíso. It was
on our agenda for Chile and it was only a short public transportation ride to
the city center from his family’s house near Con Con. Sebastian had to go back
to Santiago to study his law books, so he dropped us off in this amazing city.
The part where we’re staying is the heart of the old city. It’s full of street
art, cafes, bars, and restaurants. We’re only staying a night, so we tried to
make the most of it when we arrived.
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| Walking amongst the street art |
As the sun went down the town became more alive. As we
walked around during the day, it seemed sleepy and slow, but when we went after
dark there were people walking all the twisty streets, standing in front of
trendy looking bars and cafes, talking and plain enjoying each other’s company.
We found a small restaurant/bar in the back streets that looked kinda empty,
but gave off a good vibe. We sat drank some Chilean Pisco Sours (the jury is
still out on which came first and/or is better: Peruvian Piscos or Chilean…) and
had some creamy, buttery, Chilean sea food (scallops and crab! Yum! Even Chelsea
took a few bites!) We relaxed and sat for a while, then paid out.
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| View from the mirador of Valpo harbor |
We were about to call it a night with a 6-pack of beer on
the mirador (lookout point with a great view of the city at night), but as we
were walking to the lookout spot we heard this voice echoing down the streets.
It was beautiful, passionate, and definitely live. Chelsea stopped, looked
towards me and said, “If there is live music we need to stop!” I heartily
agreed. We walked another block following the Spanish vocal progressions and
found this hole in the wall, mom and pop type bar. Not too full, mostly
Chileans, and a woman sitting on piano seat with a microphone belting out these
wonderful songs. We walked in, sat and enjoyed a good glass of organic Chilean
wine.
After the woman finished her set, an old gentleman with
three-piece Italian looking suit, stood up and broke out his violin. He played
amazingly getting the entire bar (all 16 of us) to sing along (well I tried,
but it was still in Spanish). Then, he put his violin down and took out a
cat-gut stringed, classical guitar. He played such runs and progressions in
such a cool flamenco style (I really need to learn to play like that). Singing
and dancing the bar clapped along in ¾ time. It was really enjoyable. As the
bar shut down, we paid our bill then returned to the hostel a smile upon our
lips.
This morning (day 37, May 10, 2012) we woke up and ate a
great breakfast provided by our hostel (Casa Aventura, great place in the heart
of the city if you’re looking for a place to stay), and are going to wander
around Valparaíso some more and
check out Pablo Neruda’s house. And then tonight we are going back to Santiago
to catch a bus to the last country of our trip, Argentina. Tomorrow we should
be in Mendoza enjoying some Argentinian wine and steak!
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| This one is for you, Phil, Banksy? |
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