Highlights from our second week

After a week of exploring around our tiny beach town, we decided to check out the “big city” nearby: Valparaiso, or as the locals call it, Valpo.

Valpo currently houses more than a quarter-million people and the hillsides are crowded with buildings, steep staircases, and colorful alleys. The dense sprawl up the hillside is a mesmerizing sight. Photos just don’t capture the densely populated hills.

It is one of the oldest cities in South America with immigrants from England, France, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Germany. Hundreds of years ago it was an important port for the trade route connecting Europe and the Pacific coast. Sadly, Valpo began to decay after the Panama Canal was created and was largely devastated by a massive 8.2 earthquake in 1906. I cannot imagine being anywhere near that city during an earthquake! All those structures would create a massive landslide! Thankfully we did not encounter any troubles during our visit, either natural disasters or muggings.

Valparaiso

We boarded a bus around midday and as it bumped along the road many people filled the seats and the aisle. No chickens were present!

The buses in Chile are efficient and compact. They have to be in order to make it down the narrow streets and tight curves at the speed the drivers decide to take. It took us only an hour to reach Valpo and about halfway through the trip it felt like the driver knew that he was running behind schedule. We zoomed down the highway and with each curve we skidded across our seats back and forth and giggled nervously. Eventually we reached downtown Valpo and we exited quickly. Unlike Bangkok, the bus does make a complete stop but only for a mere few seconds to allow passengers to exit. Often the door opens before the stop and remains open after taking off again leaving the passengers in the rear holding on a little tighter in fear of falling out the bus.

Our first stop was for empanadas, one of our favorite things to eat in Chile. Delicias Express is a popular shop that specializes in empanadas and sells more than 80 different kinds!

We had watched a handful of vlogs and had a small idea of the sites we wanted to visit. After lunch we walked up to and around the Paseo Yugoslavo viewpoint, popped in to the Baburizza Palace to see their temporary exhibition of the watercolors of Santos Chavez, then rode the El Peral the funicular down the hillside of Cerro Alegre. Check out this reel of that experience. (We ended up riding a few funiculars in Valpo. Each one costs a little different but per person the ride is between 10-30 US cents, making it well worth the value.)

Our ride down the hill led us right to Plaza Sotomayor, the square near the old pier of Muelle Prat.

Since we had ended up near the waterfront we decided to take the group boat tour that’s offered to tourists. The group tours cost around $5 USD and provide a nice view of the port, docked ships, and the skyline.

The rest of the afternoon we spent snacking around the Concepcion and Alegre neighborhoods while snapping photos in various colorful and fun streets. While waiting for French fries we tried out the “slide” – check out this video if you’d like to see us having fun!

As the sun set we boarded a bus back to Concón. We have heard A LOT of advice from locals and tourists alike that crime is flagrant in Valpo and we didn’t want to be targets by staying out at night.

Tennis

We travel with rackets and love to spend time on the court for our personal fitness and to meet locals. We paid for a lesson with Luis Rojas, a pro affiliated with the Concón Tennis Club. It was a great hour on the clay courts, and we’d absolutely hire Luis again if we were to ever visit again.

Chilean Wine

During our first week, the wine we encountered was hit and miss. I’ve noticed that many restaurants have a limited selection even if they are all local wines. Plus grocery store shelves tended to be mass produced wines.

And then we walked into a wine store. Boom! Game changer. A very helpful employee led us around in English and provided excellent recommendations for limited releases and high level expressions.

Some of our favorites:

• 2017 OWM Handmade Red Blend: One of the few blends we saw. Had the finesse of a Bordeaux.
• 2023 Montes Outer Limits Sauvignon Blanc: Made from grapes from a coastal vineyard just a short drive from where we are staying. Lemon and acidity made a great pairing with the bountiful seafood.
• 2019 Penalolen Cabernet Sauvignon: Earthy, herbal qualities. Not heavy on tannins or oak.

Most restaurants had less of a wine selection than we would have hoped for. Grocery stores initially appeared to carry a wide variety, but these usually turned out to be brands of some ubiquitous large houses: Concha y Toro, Santa Rita, San Pedro, or Miguel Torres. Still, there were many good bottles at less than $10 USD. And what we purchased at the wine store averaged around $15 USD per bottle. Chilean wine still offers a good quality for the price, although it may take some searching to find small producers, whether you are looking in the United States or even while in Chile!

Viña Del Mar

We squeezed in a lot this week and exploring nearby cities is again another highlight for us. We jumped on a bus and headed south down the coast to Viña.

When originally looking at rentals in this area we strongly considered a stay at this beachy suburb of Valparaiso. It’s a dense city of its own with long stretches of sandy beach.

Since it is spring here, we’ve experienced somewhat cool temps with highs in the 60s. We looked ahead at the forecast and planned a beach day at Viña to capitalize on the good weather. The funny thing about the weather here is that the heat of the day peaks around 3 PM. But the UV is 10+ around midday. So we try to be strategic with both the outside temperature and the strength of the sun: cover up around noon when it is both cold and the sun is most brutal, and then hit the beach when the air is warmed but the sun is more reasonable.

We started our day with a delicious Chilean lunch paired with the Chilean national drink: Pisco Sour.

After lunch we popped into a salon so I could get a quick haircut. Wash, cut, and style for about $20 USD!

Then we sauntered on to lay out on the sand. As the afternoon crept by, the beach started to fill in with more sunbathers and families. It felt so lovely to enjoy the beach after almost a week of cloudy weather!

We wound down the day with a roughly five-mile beach boardwalk trek up to Reñaca, where we watched the sun set over the Pacific. I love catching beautiful sunsets all over the world! This one did not disappoint.

It was a busy week and plenty more for us to do. Our bus to Santiago will depart soon, where we will stay for a couple days before we move on to Argentina and Antarctica!