Today was our last day in Valparaiso, and we were both sad to leave. For one, our Airbnb was so airy and comfortable, with a rooftop deck that looked out onto the bay. For two, we loved wandering the city for a few hours each day, marveling at the way it has grown over the 42 hills/cerros of the port like a rabbit warren. The maze of streets, buildings, alleys, and stairs, all covered with a coat of colorful street art, is a unique and endlessly interesting experience.
The weather was, predictably, cooler than scorching hot Santiago, and the mornings always started out with fog and clouds until the sun burned through about midday. Even with the sea breezes, Craig and I have flirted with sunburns; when the sun comes out, it doesn’t mess around.
In the nine years since we were here last, Valpo has continued to cement its reputation as a bohemian, arty, cool city, and since it’s a UNESCO world heritage site, of course there are tons of tourists. We have run into countless walking tours, usually led by young Chileans who must have thighs of steel, considering all the stairs they climb up and down every day. Although it’s touristy, it doesn’t have the shine and Disney-picchu feel of other high tourist areas of Latin America (old town Cartagena, e.g.). It’s still covered in grime and dog poop (to Craig’s chagrin), half the buildings look like they’re going to crumble at any second, and the smells are none too pleasant.
One day, I told Craig that it felt like an M.C. Escher painting. Like the labyrinth of colorful buildings, winding steps, and hairpin turns really could just go on and on forever in an infinity loop. Some of the metal-sided and roofed buildings looked like they were just holding on by their hairs on their chinny chin chins, and sometimes the sidewalk ended in a definitely unsanctioned new staircase. Around every corner was something new and strange to wonder at. It was like no other city we’ve been in, although there are some old European cities that are similar. They don’t, however, have that Latin American flair of flouting all building codes and conventions. Although Valpo has survived being on the Ring of Fire for centuries, you always feel like it’s one big earthquake away from collapsing into a heap of rubble.
The juxtaposition of really old and just sort of old buildings, Victorian architecture next to what seems to be a burned out shack, a balcony added wherever possible, and just more and more structures on top of one another is what makes it all seem so improbable. Perhaps when we finally travel to Asia, we’ll see some cities that are similar, but will they also be perched above a beautiful bay?
When we got in our taxi this morning to get to the bus terminal, I mentioned to the driver that we were on our way back to Santiago. “Qué fome!” he said. Having still not brushed up enough on Español Chileno, we asked him what he meant. “Oh you know, boring, not cool,” he explained. And although we have loved Santiago with its big-city vibrancy and non-stop action, it is, without a doubt, more boring than Valpo.
So it was with reluctance that we left Valpo behind. But will we ever return? To that, I can only say, “Sí po!”
The Wongenbergs 