23.06 - Day 4 - Santiago to Valparasio, CHL

Santiago to Valparaiso, Chile

Wednesday 23rd June 2010

My day starts at a more respectable 8am with anticipation – for leaving Santiago (albeit for only 36 hours) and for England vs Slovenia. Pre-match pool games and I extend my lead out to 7-2. England pull through 1-0 to reach the knock out stages. We lock up our bags and head with just rucksacks into the depths of the Santiago Metro. A short while later we’re on the bus heading out of the city in the midst of light rain.

Two and a half hours later we pull up in Valparaíso, a seaside town to the North of Santiago. The rain more significant now and indeed as I write this some eight hours later it hasn’t relented and is pounding the roof above me. As we walk fast paced, jumping puddles to the main tourist area, Lonely Planet recommends a café up an alley that is dingy with graffiti covered walls and a tacky bright neon light protruding at the end.

Casino Social J Cruz is actually a great find – a collection of antique tat in the glass fronted shelves, customers passport photos patched on the walls, a pet cat strolling under the tables, visitors autographs scribbled onto the plastic tablecloths. There’s no menu; the waiter asks how many are eating and returns ten minutes later with an over sized plate laden chips, fried onion, scrambled eggs and beef chunks. This and our local beers see us through Germany vs Ghana (Group Stage, 1-0). Afterwards we pose with the Copa Mondial from behind the till.

Sadly Lonely Planet couldn’t follow this up – its two hostel picks are closed. With the rain still falling the first place that’ll have us is appealing and so we settle into PataPata Hostel in a four bed dorm. If I say it has the feel of someone’s house that’s because it is: the owner left cooped up in a small room at the front of the house with only two doubles and two dorms upstairs.

Like any good UK seaside town the difference between good and bad weather is the difference between fresh air, shimmering colours, walks on the beach and grey, cold, windy desolation. For Valparaíso being famous for its 40 odd Cerros (hills) and the views there from, along with a combination of pastille colour fronted houses, walls even steps and artistic graffiti, the pouring rain is even more frustrating. The wet weather creates gushing streams down all the steep winding and twisting roads.

Almost at a run we head to Café Color for an Apostrophe/Max Brenner style hot chocolate. Clientele contributions may seemingly be a Valparaiso thing though this time there is a more hippy organic vegetarian theme.  

An early dinner, well 7pm, early for Chile follows at Café Vinilo. Immaculate Pisco Sours dampened only by our conscience as the chef comes out personally and explains all the very tasty sounding main meals including beef tongue cooked for 10 hours, only for us to pick cheese and ham toasted sandwiches. Both he and the waitress display consternation at our choice and the chef even refuses to look us in the eye for the rest of our meal. 

Back to the hostel for some down time – the ever persistent rain above even the general buzz of the vuvuzelas at the South African World Cup.