I'm From the Wrong Valparaiso

IES planned a day trip for us today to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. The two towns are only 15 minutes apart but they are polar opposites, which is a common theme in Chile. From top to bottom, Chile is like five different countries. There are deserts in the north, like San Pedro de Atacama, and icy mountains in Patagonia in the south (both of which I really want to visit, but since it's winter Patagonia is too cold to go to). The east side of Chile is mountains while the west side is the Pacific. The more I learn about this country, the more I love being here. I think it's because it wakes up a wanderlust I never knew I had. The country has so much more to offer than I thought, and while I'm here I have to take advantage.

Functioning clock made of flowers in Viña del Mar

Yesterday we talked about Valparaíso and what we'd do on our visit there: a visit to La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda's 3 houses, a walk about the port town to see the colorful houses that that line the hills, and a quick stop in Viña del Mar. We looked at some pictures. and now that we've seen the real thing, never have I been more able to say that pictures don't do something justice more certainly than I can with Valparaíso. It is the most peculiar and most beautiful place I think I've ever seen, and I think it's because it's so unexpected. It's kitschy, it's colorful, nothing matches, the houses are shaped in ways that I didn't even think possible, there's graffiti everywhere that's more beautiful than the modern art in most museums, and if I had to uproot my life and move there I would do it without a second thought.

Our first stop in Valparaíso was La Sebastiana, and it took my breath away. I usually don't like poetry, but I've read Pablo Neruda for a long time. "Poesía" is still my favorite of any poem I've read. Being able to visit two of his three houses is something I was so looking forward to, but I never expected La Sebastiana. It's five floors and we each got a personal audio tour, which was nice because it let us wander around at our own pace and it pointed out all the little things that Neruda had in each room of the house. It was a beautiful house and Neruda set it up so that from each window he had a beautiful view of the sea or the hills. Each floor of the house was essentially composed of a single room packed full of things that Neruda "saved" from antique stores or things he couldn't bear to part with as he moved around the world, such as a carousel horse from Paris set up in his circular living room to look like it was still on a carousel and antique Chinese doors that he used for his wardrobe in his bedroom. The house is also full of windows that look like windows that you would find on a ship since Neruda loved the sea but hating traveling on it. Writing about La Sebastiana is really frustrating, and I don't know how to do it justice in words. Just go see it. It was unbelievable, I would die to live there.

The bench of Pablo Neruda in profile outside La Sebastiana

La Sebastiana!

Claire and I outside La Sebastiana overlooking Valparaíso

The hills!

After La Sebastiana we had a chance to walk up and down the hills of the town and take pictures of the scenery. I don't do really well with organized tours, especially when there was so much to see...and I ended up wandering away from the group (with a few others) because I saw some interesting houses and wanted a picture. And then we got in a little trouble, but it was bound to happen. We caught up, we just took a different route of getting there! Excitement combined with a tight schedule makes me more spazzy than usual and a few of us decided right then that we would take a weekend to come back and do Valparaíso (and Viña del Mar) justice.

Gangsta's in Paradise...literally

Indian street art!

We had lunch in Viña del Mar at a beautiful Italian (I think?) restaurant. Since lunch is the most important meal of the day in Chile, it was a two hour meal with three courses and it was delicious. Since we were on the coast, I ordered the salmon appetizer and tilapia entre. For dessert I had homemade ice cream and a few of us decided to try a typical Chilean flavor: lúcuma. It was soooo good, like a less sweet version of butter pecan. It was a really heavy meal in the middle of the day, so I was immediately tired. Also, since the meal was so long we only really had about 20 minutes to hang out on the beach, which was gorgeous. Even though it's winter, it was SO HOT throughout the day but since all of us were expecting it to be cold none of us were really wearing beach clothes. It was still nice, though.

Ice cream! The lúcuma is the yellow

Beach in Viña del Mar 

Both cities were beautiful in their own way, but Valparaíso was definitely my favorite. Viña del Mar was very picturesque, but it was still a resort town. I've never seen anything like Valparaíso and I don't think I ever will again. I'm so glad that we have time to go back and stay for longer so that we can spend more time exploring the city. And buying the kitschy crafts that they sell by La Sebastiana and in the plaza, because that's exactly the kind of stuff I hoard.  

We're going on a tour of some "historical" sites in Santiago tomorrow for a couple hours, I'm assuming including La Chascona, another of Pablo Neruda's houses. I'm excited!