"Valpo" is my favorite place I have visited in South America. A relatively small town of steep hills, cobblestoned streets, colorful buildings with graffiti murals and a giant port. Perfection. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its ascensores (elevators) and the home of Pablo Neruda. The people were unbelievably friendly, and our two days there were very relaxing (despite the steep climbs everywhere). For those of you who don't know Liz, she's one of the most easy going girls in the world, so what did we do 
while we were here?? Nothing. It was great. We walked, shopped, sat around in cafes, drank wine and listened to music. Oh, and Liz took lots of pictures of animals...
while we were here?? Nothing. It was great. We walked, shopped, sat around in cafes, drank wine and listened to music. Oh, and Liz took lots of pictures of animals...One of the most noticable things about Valparaiso is the amount of stray dogs and cats that roam the streets (this is true for most of Chile, Santiago too). According to one of the friends we made, the reason there are so many stray animals is because the pounds there do not put any animals to sleep, unlike the US. The strays are not sickly like the ones you see in the US or Mexico - they roam around the streets just like the humans do. The dogs in Valparaiso were so smart. At one point, 3 were accompanying us up a hill and they would surround and bark at every Valparaisano that walked by. The Valparaisano would yell at them and then they would stop barking and continue to follow us. I guess they were trying to get food? They did this about 5 times, but never to us. We must have been sending friendly vibes! (at least Liz was...)
One new fact I learned about Liz on this trip: She is OBSESSED with taking photos of animals. If she sees a gross pigeon on the sidewalk she will take 25 photos of it, even though she has plenty of pigeons in NYC to stare at everyday. She literally took hundreds of photos of dogs and cats. It got to the point where I would automatically stop when we passed an animal, point, and wait for her to whip out her camera, then 
I would laugh and make fun of her. I probably would have found this very annoying after the first 20 times, but since we had ZERO plans I just found it really amusing.
I would laugh and make fun of her. I probably would have found this very annoying after the first 20 times, but since we had ZERO plans I just found it really amusing. On Saturday afternoon, we made friends with a Mapuche woman named Marcela who owns an art store in town and she invited us to have tea with her. Hysterically, her two friends (who happen to be the creators of the annual Valpo cat calendar) showed up, and Liz got to show them all of her animal photos! I almost gagged when they asked her to be their business partner (they even exchanged contact info) - it was absurd! I'm still laughing about how ridiculous that situation was - but it was great Spanish practice!
We spent our time walking in shops and talking
to tons of locals. We even joined the 60th birthday party of a man who's family was throwing him a party at the restaurant we ate dinner at. AND the food was incredible here! My 2 favorite meals since I've come to South America were consumed in Valpo! The first consisted of an amazing Chilean corn and bean soup that Liz and I ate at Color Cafe (This place was amazing, rivaled Fido in every way imaginable. I know, you're all questioning my sanity right now.) The second was breakfast at a bistro called el Desayunador (The breakfaster.) where Liz and I got incredible coffee; warm homemade wheat bread with freshly made peach preserves (we licked the bowl clean); sliced apples, bananas, and peaches; yogurt and freshly squeezed oran
ge juice for US$3!!!!! It was out of this world.
to tons of locals. We even joined the 60th birthday party of a man who's family was throwing him a party at the restaurant we ate dinner at. AND the food was incredible here! My 2 favorite meals since I've come to South America were consumed in Valpo! The first consisted of an amazing Chilean corn and bean soup that Liz and I ate at Color Cafe (This place was amazing, rivaled Fido in every way imaginable. I know, you're all questioning my sanity right now.) The second was breakfast at a bistro called el Desayunador (The breakfaster.) where Liz and I got incredible coffee; warm homemade wheat bread with freshly made peach preserves (we licked the bowl clean); sliced apples, bananas, and peaches; yogurt and freshly squeezed oran
ge juice for US$3!!!!! It was out of this world.Our trip was flawless! And on our flight home Liz and I turned to each other simultaneously and discussed this outloud. Ten minutes later our pilot announced that our flight would be diverted to Montevideo, Uruguay because of hail storms in BsAs. I got to my apartment at 4 am and headed back to the airport for my flight to Patagonia, Argentina at 8am. Thank you, higher power, for putting Liz and me in our place. ;)
For more photos of Valparaiso click here!
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