“The world is big and I want to get a good look at it before it gets dark”
– John Muir
Whilst in Chile, I headed down to the port city of Valparaíso. Taking the tube, then a coach, it took roughly 2.5 hours from Santiago to the coast. At first glance, the area looked quite run down and as the trams weren’t running as it was Sunday, we took an Uber to one of the 16 funicular railways which links the city to the Artillería hill. They look so bizarre at first, like some old fashioned Victorian machinery that doesn’t look to safe but they are fully safe, functional and takes you up the side of the cliff to the top.
Once at the top of the cliff, it is quite a contrast to the flat area of the city( the plan) with its views of the coast, restaurants, winding streets and almost everything covered in vibrant street art. First stop was lunch at one of the restaurants. For me it was the Gambas Pil Pil as that was one of my favourite dishes when I lived in Spain and of course a cocktail. After lunch we explored some of the area and views. It’s was such a quirky and funky area, it was hard not to keep stopping to look at all the art that was around. Although the plan was to leave for the booked coach around 15.30 and head back to Santiago, a few hours just wasn’t enough so we stayed on for more drinks and then dinner at one of the other restaurants. If I was to do the Santiago trip again, i would definitely be tempted to head down to Valparaíso again and maybe stay for a night to see what else it had to offer.
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