Exploring Valparaíso
We spent nearly an entire day exploring Valparaiso with a local guide. The city could best be described as a chaotic vertical wall-art gallery.
The morning started in the flat part of town, but the really neat stuff was in the hills. Instead of trekking up the endless staircases we took this elevators (called funiculars) that traveled on a smooth rail up the sides of the hills. Most were made of wood, and had been in service for over a centruy. They were rickety, but slowly they got us to the top as they passed through the colorful houses dotting the hills.
The afternoon was a blur of street art and history. We spent an hour at La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's former home. It's a whimsical, five-story tower perched high above the port, filled with his eccentric collections of ship figureheads and maps.
Valparaíso is gritty, loud, and steep. But also vibrant and charming.