Montemar Bay and Beach Cabanas Valparaiso

... wind through impossible up and down angles so you´ll never know if its reality here, or perhaps that wasn´t normal herbal tea.<br><br>Basically its a place that inspires creativity, and somewhere I could stay and undoubtedly write my first best selling novel. (any takers?) All I have to do is take a wander around if I get writers block and I´m sure when I got back I´d have enough material to fill a few more chapters.<br><br>Valparaiso has a ...

... us that just the day before an Argentinian man had been stripped of everything he had along the same pass. Bad times.<br><br>However, apart from this one area, the city was very safe and welcoming. On our first night we wandered around the main streets admiring all the local craft and art stalls and then headed over to a restaurant recommended by - who else - the lonely planet guide. Although it looked massively shady from the outside, the cool art graffitti, the sound of ...

... had too much luggage, and another bus had to be rented just to hold all of the luggage. We waited in the sun for about an hour, and we said our final goodbyes to eachother with many tears! It won't be the last time that I see them. I hope to be back in January or February if not sooner! I already can't wait.<br> I slept the entire way to the airport in Santiago (as did most of the other American students on the bus). We were able to go through ...

... both cities has been influenced by the Europeans. Also, catholicism is very prominent in both cities. I took a nap, like most did in the house, worked on that paper, went upstairs for once (I had an avocado sandwich and some cookies), then back downstairs to check my mail, write this blog, and upload some pictures.<br><br>My host family all give their best regards, muchos cariños (many hugs and kisses), to my family and friends! This ...

... shopping for her new granddaughter to <br> be). We had to stop to get the brakes fixed on their <br> car, a Hyundai Tucson (similar to a Pontiac Vibe). Margarita and I <br> walked around the little shops on the streets while Oscar did <br> that. <br><br>There are a lot of stray dogs walking the streets <br> of Valparaiso. A dog or a cat is usually never out of <br> sight there ...

... br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> After a long an exhausting day (a lot of miles to walk) I paid a visit to one of the many beaches to take a dip in the ice cold water of the Pacific ... <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Another two hours later I was back in Santiago to pack my traps and to take a night bus to Mendoza ... - but thats another story ...

... by hundreds of dogs, most of them stray looking. The reason everyone flocked to the little coastal town was for its legendary New Years party and one of the biggest fireworks displays in South America. The famous fireworks show runs from Valparaiso and continuous for 21km along the beach and kicks off shortly after midnight in one synchronised explosion! We along with all the other residence in the hostel were kindly invited to join the owner and his wife ...

... the pic). Back in Santiago in the evening and were wandering the area of Providencia when we stumbled (yes somebody left it in the middle of the road) on this gem of a restaurant. It was packed with locals (think london tube at 6pm) and we were the only tourists who stuck out. The pizza´s were awesome (think Carlsberg ad did the best pizzas in the world). The bases were so thin &amp; crispy they crumbled in your mouth - El Patio, Providencia 1670!

... a few months ago and they tried to prepare us for Alberto´s enthusiam buit it needs to be witnessed first hand. He sat us down for about 40 mins to explain the map of the town and show us how to orientate the map and how to travel to each of the famous so called romantic passageways and how to again orientate the map and get to the museums and cable cars. We had to bite our tongues not to burst out laughing at times. He meant well though and makes good coffee ...

... coast and now down to the Lake District, so after a fairly relaxing few weeks we're back to a more regular schedule of moving on every day and covering a lot of ground when we do! <br><br>It's pretty tiring but absolutely fantastic, we're loving every second of it ;)<br><br><br>Lots of love to you all, <br><br><br>Al &amp; Katie xx