In and out, round and about

The Spanish word for hill is cerro.  Valparaíso sits on 45 cerros all with varying degrees of building structures, road widths and footpaths.

The Air BnB apartment we booked this week was only available for three nights so we moved over to Cerro Alegre's Hotel Da Vinci for our final night in Valpo.   This is a beautiful old building nestled between one hill and century old buildings sitting in unison forming a guard of honour down the cobblestoned street of Urriola.  The inside has been renovated with four metre high ceilings stretching over two storeys.  As we have been out and about looking for new art we haven't had a chance to really enjoy the charm of this beautiful building.

We followed the sound of music up some sun deprived steps and across a dusty track to find a school band practicing in Cerro La Loma.  Music always seems to be happening somewhere in Valparaíso.    From there we meandered down Atahualpa looking at the art work that adorns the houses. 

Unfortunately, many quieter streets smell like urine and as mentioned in yesterday’s blog, public toilets are hard to find.  Someone has printed up some signs along Atahualpa that translate roughly into, “If you can afford to travel to Valpo you can pay for a toilet,” and “Don’t make my neighbourhood dirty.  No urinating here.  Find some dirt.” 

We did pay for our toilet use today by stopping in a café for some pancakes that were actually a type of cake and milky water wearing a cheap coffee costume.  Indy suggested that perhaps there is a Chilean law that says baristas are to be denied access at the airport and if no one is looking you can run Nescafe instant through a coffee machine with very similar results.  Much like you can dress two people in a horse costume and have them run in a horse race.  People are going to notice.

Our art walk was supplemented with a deep fried empanada – is there any other kind? I hear you ask.  This was Depp’s first empanada and gave him enough energy to walk along Pasaje Galvez until we arrived back at Plaza Victoria where Depp and Truce had another go on the bikes.  This time Depp rode solo.  He did run onto one street vendor’s wares but there didn’t seem to be any damage.

Later on in the evening we went to Boris’ house for dinner.  Boris was one of the locals who helped us establish a life in Valparaíso.  He does cooking classes and walking tours with passion and natural charisma.  If you ever come to Valpo you must meet up with him and learn a few of Valparaíso’s secrets.  

https://www.facebook.com/chileanflavours/

Tomorrow night, we are catching the overnight bus to Mendoza.  Up and over the Andes with a border crossing all in the dark.