Hotel Manoir Atkinson Valparaiso

... arm wrestle the resident strong man, then when you lose you´d need be absconded to the theatre group where you´d be roped into playing the village idiot whose only role is to be pelted with rotten tomatoes by an angry mob. All this drives you over the edge of distraction until you finally end up drinking dangerous bootleg liquor with a dwarf on the dirty streets at dawn.<br><br>Ok, perhaps I´m getting a tad carried away again, but this is in keeping ...

... really sweet old lady and our room was comfortable and spacious. However, the main rooms looked like something from the Hotel Inspector programme, as the lady had crammed every piece of nautical memorabilia she could find into the dining room and corridors, including: a used life vest, many model ships, a poster of various knots, numerous captain hats hanging from the ceiling and a real steering wheel under the stairs. Bizarre.<br><br>The nautical theme continued through ...

... we could get home safely.<br> The next morning, I finished packing the rest of my stuff. For my last lunch, Margarita made chorillanas! I ate with Pablo and Jenny. Pablo carried my luggage upstairs, and I said my goodbyes to the family. This was definitely the hardest part. I first said goodbye to Oscar (papa), who was the one to start the crying. Then, I said goodbye to Uncle Juan. Oscar (mi hermano) had finally woken up, and we shared a long ...

... Oscar picked me up, we also picked up his grandparents and headed to the house for lunch. Our lunch around 2 PM consisted of wine, steak and onions, corn, fried potatoes, salad, and rice. For dessert, which I didn't need at all after all that food, was canned peaches with whipped cream on top. Everything was very good! After lunch, I watched Antonia play the Wii for a bit and went to my room to write my paper for class tomorrow. I ...

... bit gutted at the moment that the South America leg is over. I feel that my trip from hereon may not be so varied. However, I am also optimistic that I shall continue to have more good times and more stories with with to regale you all. And also, I'm going to have to return, I mean, I didn't get to visit Ecuador, Colombia, the south of Argentina and Chile or Brazil at all....all of which are meant to be excellent. Better get planning that!

... I had a great view the harbor, downtown and the quarters up in the hills - besides the vast amount of military vessels two huge cruise ship were anchoring in the harbour and let their "inhabitants" out for a walk (as I was asked dozens of times what cruise I am doing I know now one cruise was going from Miami to LA and the other one from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires). <br> <br> <br> <br> <br ...

... colonial buildings, to crumbling roads used by every dog as a lavatory to quaint cobblestoned streets lined with arty shops, to ugly pointless graffiti on next to beautiful murals. Everywhere you looked there was something beautiful and unsightly side by side. I found it particularly strange how magnificent old colonial buildings we hidden behind literally thousands of lines of telephone cable and how beautifully designed parks filled with statues and enormous ...

2h bus to Vaparaiso (ah...the short sweet journeys...love it), based on recommendations from other backpackers. "valpo" as the locals call it is a UNESCo heritage site. It´s famous for it´s colourful buildings stacked on steep hills and cobblestone roads. It´s also famous for it´s "ascensores" built between 1883 and 1916 that got the lazy locals up to their houses on the hills. Sounds romantic... Not really...Cities such as Certaldo, Sienna and ...

... around and looking really confused we found a room with slot machines for 10, 50, and 100 pesos (which is like 2 cents, 10 cents, and 20 cents). I'm happy to say I broke even, which my mom tells me is winning! After we left the casino we found a karaoke bar near the hotel. We heard people singing songs like "Wish You Were Here" and "Summer Loving" and other American songs. Surprisingly, we only heard a couple songs in ...

... at the back of the bottom of the bus was fantastic, really comfy and with a good view of the telly. <br><br>As we looked back on our time here, we agreed that both Valparaiso and Vina del Mar are well worth a visit if you ever get to this part of the world, particularly Valparaiso which is a unique place, with half the ...