Hostal Caracol Valparaiso

... bus. What had happend was we had gone to the wrong bus terminal so the man from 'Tur Bus' diverted another bus to take us to the right bus station. We laughed all the way to Valparaiso. TUR BUS ROCK!!!!<br><br>We arrived in Valporisa and of course our hostal was on top of one of the hills. So of course we set out walking with our map. We were unable to find the elevators of course so walked up what we found out later to be the steepest ...

Day 1 in Chile: Arrived in Santiago and got the full tour of Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar from my friends Pedro and Jorge. Grateful for their broken english because when it comes to Chilean spanish (casteallo), I don´t know S*#$! Its cold here! Still winter until September 21st but definently warmer at the beach. My 1st empanada and cup of nescafe coffee for breakie. Empanadas are pastries ...

... other arm while they made their way down a narrow sidewalk. I almost teared up at the display of compassion shown by this man. He didn't have to take the boy for a walk and there sure could have been easier things to do for the afternoon, but he did it anyway. I love seeing people care for others with disabilities. It makes me almost ready to go back to work and see my kids, many of which have special needs. <br><br>I ate lunch at Teteria Violeta on Cerro ...

... on a bus, after saying good-bye to our GAP group, and headed to Valparaiso. So far, seems like an amazing city by the sea. Interesting architecture and wonderful colours everywhere. I also took note of the many restaurants on the way to the hostel that looked delicious. It was hard to say farewell to some of the people we bonded with on the trip, but it also feels good to be taking things at our own pace again. Hasta la próxima vez! Céline and Lisa

... out all the graffiti which is everywhere in Valparaiso and is pretty much encouraged as it`s all so good. All the houses, many made of corrugated iron, which spread irregularly up the hillside are painted in all different bright colours which is cool. The city has many funiculars to get up the steep hills, all around 100 years old and still using all the old British parts. We went on a few, the longest only 175m up to the Naval museum above the port ...

... our tour, we visited a huge store which is similar to a WalMart Superstore. Some of the ship's passengers got off a this port and others got on.The houses which are on the side of a mountain, is an architecture feat. This port has more containers in it than any other we have been to. Chile is an important port for South America. they also export a lot of fruit and veggies to other parts of the world. The next two days will be at sea so another blog will be posted in about 3 days.

... sea view, which more than made up for it! That night, we relaxed, made friends with our new housmates and went to watch the sun set with a Canadian couple. Ian had explained that everything shuts for Christmas and Boxing Day, so we went into town the next day to stock up on food. The ride into town was quite entertaining as Catrin and I had to ride in the back of Ian's pick-up truck as there wasn't enough room inside! We stocked up of fresh fruit ...

... not surprisingly. This is a film tradition the qualitative equal of Hollywood, commercial cradle of Bunuel, and fountain of creativity. Their stuff always looks good. The fiction fared better than the documentaries. Though it's hard to see them all when they're playing simultaneously on different screens, the ones I saw were good, particularly an Argentine offering called 'Soledad', a play on terms, being the name of a new-born ...

After spending an excellent 6 days in Mendoza, where we did very little aside from sit in sidewalk cafes all day long drinking delicious coffees or delicious wines, we headed back to Valparaiso in Chile. We both like it here a lot, but its a tricky place to get your head around. On one hand, it is a busy industrial port with huge commercial and military ships coming and going, but on the other hand, it is surrounded by these steep hills that are covered in brightly ...

... was thrilled to know that a lot of work has gone into making it a more comfortable place for families. The next day Joe, Ricardo and I went to the Parque Nacional la Campana. We hiked up a BIIIG mountain that was 1,880 meters high (almost 6000 feet, and we stated at only 900 feet)! We ate pan integral with palta after we got to about 3/4 of the way and soon befriended a dainty gray fox. It was so beautiful, this little fox. He kept posing for us and ...