A BIT ABOUT VALPO

VALPARAISO

Pick up any guidebook, whether for Chile or South America, and amongst the top sights to see you will find Valparaiso.  Famed for its gravity defying architecture, steep furniculars and quirky artwork, the entire city of Valpo is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  There isn’t much to DO here, instead the joy of Valparaiso is to simply walk and lose yourself in it’s narrow maze-like streets, peering into colourful houses, deciphering truly delectable graffiti, admiring the broad vistas and trying delicious Chilean dishes in tiny seafood restaurants at the top of a winding cerro (hill).

Arrival into Valpo inevitably drops you into the El Plan city centro area of the city – lets not forget that Valparaiso is a working port city and therefore has the charm to match.  There is an abundance of people (and an overabundance of dogs, the real hidden ‘charm’ of Chile), and the flat city area is like any other.  There are some good restaurants in this area including the reliable Paulo’s, and working markets where you can purchase delicious fast food, jugos, Spanish books (the occasional English), pirated dvds, fruit and vegetables and the usual market ware of clothes, jewellery and smoking paraphernalia.  Walking around the city area reveals grand churches, modern buildings (including the National Congress building), statues and sculptures and steep walkways up to the hills above. In addition, there are working cable cars.

Valparaiso is a city prone to fires, and during my stay the bomberos (always serving on a volunteer basis here) were busy.

 

Those who do not wish to undertake the city’s steep ascents, there are numerous lifts or ascensors, that can take you to the top.  The oldest services Cerro Concepcion and was built in 1883. There are 42 hills in Valpo, and Concepcion is one of the nicest.  It partners Cerro Alegre and boasts many 19^th century buildings, more touristy restaurants, and of course, the essential Valpo graffiti.  Oh, the art!!  Valparaiso is a place that attracts all kinds of artists, from painters to sculptors to writers and poets.

 Given that Chile is the second largest producer of Salmon (after Norway) in the world, and given that Valpo is beside the sea, the city is an ideal place to sample seafood, at much cheaper prices than Santiago.  Salmon ceviche is especially good, as are queso and camaron empanadas.