Transcript:
By this point, I’d been in Santiago for a little over a week. I felt relaxed and comfortable, but by no means *blown away by the place. The food was expensive and *nothing to write home about, and the place seemed kind of dull. Yes, the weather was amazing, and the city felt safe and was convenient—swings and roundabouts and all that—but I was bored, *fidgety, and a bit lonely… I needed some adventure. So, I made up my mind to head off on some day and weekend trips away.
Valparaíso has a reputation for being not only vibrant and colourful but also carrying a hint of *edginess and a touch *seediness. — it’d *piqued my interest. It’d be good to get out of the heat and density of Santiago for a few days to somewhere a little less *sanitized.
The bus from Santiago to Valparaiso takes about two hours. So, I got up on Saturday morning in no particular rush, I had a few its and bobs to do for work, ate breakfast, ordered an Uber to take me to the Bus Terminal, grabbed my stuff and headed out. Once I arrived in Valparaiso, I Left the bus station behind, and headed toward the city center. Just a few blocks away, I came across Mercado El Cardonal – a sprawling indoor market with stalls *brimming with produce, including fruit and veg of every color, shape, and size, piled high on stalls, which spilled onto the streets. The vibrant marketplace is housed within a charming old wooden colonial building.
I passed a lively street band – the music had that infectious, upbeat vibe that makes you feel like you’re on holiday somewhere exotic, which I was. this is more like it, I thought. The sounds may well have had a Caribbean influence, but I’m not entirely certain – I’ll add some videos of the street music scene; maybe you can help me identify it. I was *Hank Marvin (starving), so I stopped in a restaurant that was *teeming with locals and ordered a beer and a fried beef sandwich. It was undeniably decent, and the portions were generous, the sandwich was so big in fact that I spent a lot of time wrestling with it and trying not to spill the contents down my top. A World Cup game played on the TV, normally I’d have sat and watched for a bit but not today, I wanted to press on.
Upon reaching the city centre, I made a *spur of the moment decision to ascend the hills leading to the Cultural Park. The trek up, involved climbing winding hilly streets and steep staircases, all covered in graffiti and murals adding a *gritty charm. The city had character, that’s for sure! The Cultural Park occupied the hilltop, with artsy buildings nestled amid green spaces hosting exhibitions. But to be honest, it was the city and port views below that made the hike up worthwhile.
Valparaíso is hilly, and I’d recommend just getting lost and strolling up at down the streets and alleys with their beautiful but *dilapidated crumbly buildings. I do love getting lost in a city, walking around *aimlessly, but to be honest I’m also a big fan of walking tours and letting an expert guide me; they’re an easy way of learning about the history of the city, while having someone show you around the hidden gems and pointing out the *nooks and crannies, which you might not find otherwise. They’re also useful for getting some good local tips on places to eat, places to shop and *those kind of things. Not to mention they’re great for meeting people, perfect if you are travelling solo.
After a quick bit of googling, I found a walking tour leaving from one of the main squares in about an hour, so I *moseyed back on down. This particular walking tour not only covered the main sites and their importance within the history of the city but also the *omnipresent street art. The guide was, everything you want in a guide – engaging and informative. He took us on a walk through the labyrinth of narrow streets adorned with those colourful murals and graffiti. He took us to several, whatchamacallem... funicular lifts, those kind of pulley lifts that consists of two counterbalanced carriages on tracks. When one carriage goes up, the other descends at the same speed. but they don’t go vertically up, they take you up on a steep incline.
As I mentioned before Valparaíso is hilly, so I can see why they built so many of them at the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century. They must have been *state-of-the-art engineering *feats at the time, another nod to how wealthy the city once was. 16 of these historical elevators remain today although not all are operational.
We walked past bands *busking, playing the same infectious beats I’d heard on my arrival, and passed by artists from all over the world *peddling their *wares. The sensory overload made the place *intoxicating. The tour finished down by the port. These tours often work on a voluntary payment system and It’s always tricky to know how much to give, but I normally go for around the 10-dollar mark. The idea is that you give what you think the tour was worth, depending on how much you can afford. Unfortunately, by the end of the tour the group has always thinned out – some early leavers hand the guide cash before departing while others just slip away. Punishment for such a *heinous crime? Maybe an afternoon in *the stocks might give them time to think.
Transcript:
By this point, I’d been in Santiago for a little over a week. I felt relaxed and comfortable, but by no means blown away by the place. The food was expensive and *nothing to write home about, and the place seemed kind of dull. Yes, the weather was amazing, and the city felt safe and was convenient—*swings and roundabouts and all that—but I was bored, *fidgety, and a bit lonely… I needed some adventure. So, I made up my mind to head off on some day and weekend trips away.
Valparaíso has a reputation for being not only vibrant and colourful but also carrying a hint of edginess and a touch *seediness. — it’d *piqued my interest. It’d be good to get out of the heat and density of Santiago for a few days to somewhere a little less sanitized. The bus from Santiago to Valparaiso takes about two hours. So, I got up on Saturday morning in no particular rush, I had a few *bits and bobs to do for work, ate breakfast, ordered an Uber to take me to the Bus Terminal, grabbed my stuff and headed out.
Once I arrived in Valparaiso, I Left the bus station behind, and headed toward the city center. Just a few blocks away, I came across Mercado El Cardonal – a sprawling indoor market with stalls *brimming with produce, including fruit and veg of every color, shape, and size, piled high on the stalls, which spilled onto the streets. This vibrant marketplace is housed within a charming old wooden colonial building.
I passed a lively street band – the music had that infectious, upbeat vibe that makes you feel like you’re on holiday somewhere exotic, which I was. this is more like it, I thought. The sounds may well have had a Caribbean influence, but I’m not entirely certain – I’ll add some videos of the street music scene; maybe you can help me identify it. I was *Hank Marvin (starving), so I stopped in a restaurant that was *teeming with locals and ordered a beer and a fried beef sandwich. It was undeniably decent, and the portions were generous, the sandwich was so big in fact that I spent a lot of time wrestling with it and trying not to spill its contents down my top. A World Cup game played on the TV, normally I’d have sat and watched for a bit but not today, I wanted to press on.
Upon reaching the city center, I made a *spur-of-the-moment decision to ascend the hills leading to the Cultural Park. The trek up, involved climbing winding hilly streets and steep staircases, all covered in graffiti and murals adding a *gritty charm. The city had character, that’s for sure! The Cultural Park occupied the hilltop, with artsy buildings nestled amid green spaces hosting exhibitions. But to be honest, it was the city and port views below that made the hike up worthwhile.
Valparaíso is hilly, and I’d recommend just getting lost and strolling up at down the streets and alleys with their beautiful but *dilapidated crumbly buildings. I do love getting lost in a city, walking around *aimlessly, but to be honest I’m also a big fan of walking tours and letting an expert guide you; they’re an easy way of learning about the history of the city, while having someone show you around the hidden gems and pointing out the *nooks and crannies, which you might not find otherwise. They’re also useful for getting some good local tips on places to eat, places to shop and *those kind of things. Not to mention they’re great for meeting people, perfect if you are travelling solo.
After a quick bit of googling, I found a walking tour leaving from one of the main squares in about an hour, so I *moseyed back on down. This particular walking tour not only covered the main sites and their importance within the history of the city but also the *omnipresent street art. The guide was, everything you want in a guide – engaging and informative. He took us on a walk through the labyrinth of narrow streets adorned with colourful murals and graffiti. He took us to several, *whatchamacallem… *funicular lifts, these kind of pulley lifts that consists of two counterbalanced carriages on tracks. When one carriage goes up, the other descends at the same speed. but they don’t go vertically up, they take you up on a steep incline. As I mentioned before Valparaíso is hilly, so I can see why they built so many of them at the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century. They must have been *state-of-the-art engineering *feats at the time, another nod to how wealthy the city once was. 16 of these historical elevators remain today although not all are operational.
We walked past bands *busking, playing the same infectious beats I’d heard on my arrival, and passed by artists from all over the world *peddling their *wares. The sensory overload made the place *intoxicating. The tour finished up down by the port. These tours often work on a voluntary payment system and It’s always tricky to know how much to give, but I normally go for around the 10-dollar mark. The idea is you give what you think the tour was worth, depending on how much you can afford. Unfortunately, by the end of the tour the group has always thinned out – some early leavers hand the guide cash before while others unfortunately just slip away. Punishment for such a * heinous crime? Maybe an afternoon in *the stocks might give them time to think.
