10 Things to Do in and Around Valparaíso

As I am sitting in the Middlebury library trying to get through an Octavio Paz reading about Mexican independence for tomorrow's Spanish class, all I can think about is Chile. Strange you might say, but Chile's been on my mind for a number of reasons, namely my long música latina themed run today. So I've decided to compile a list of 10 things to do in Valparaíso if you're studying/living there for a bit, or just passing through.

1. Go to J Cruz Restaurant in Valparaíso and order a churillana (gross amounts of fries, fried eggs and steaks all piled on one plate). Talk to the guy who works there who looks like Santa Claus. Mention the striking resemblance and he'll look at you funily and then give you a chuckle and a wink. Then he'll try to sell you photographs he took...as he's a photographer on the side of being Santa and a waiter...duh.



2. Have tea at the Color Café. Write a message about Valpo or anything else on a napkin and leave it there for the waiter to see. If you're lucky, they'll tape the napkin on the wall with hundreds of others to decorate the Café.

3. Climb the dunes in ConCon. Bring a piece of cardboard and wax and slide down them. Climb back up and repeat. If you're there at the right time, you can see some motorcyclists and joy-riders in jeeps.

4. Go to a party without gringos. Sit on a lawn chair and mingle with chileans as they chain smoke and talk with Chilenismos that you might never all understand. Drink a piscola.

5. Spend a day (I spent several) or at least an afternoon looking for graffiti in Valpo. There are some famous graffiti artists like Inti, (his work shown below) who leave their cultural mark on the city that really make it what it is.

6. Even if you're not into the bar scene, take a night and go to Huevo, a club in downtown-ish Valpo. Go up to the roof (basically the salsa station of the bar) on a nice night and let a Chilean teach you how to salsa.

7. Climb la Campana, a national park that takes you to a peak where you can see the Andes. It's a four or five hour hike (with some pretty intense rock-climbing towards the end) but it's worth everything once you're at the top.

8. Have an ascensor (elevators) day. Plan a root and then see as many ascensores as you can on one day in Valpo. Some of them are privately owned and closed on random days, but see how many you can get to...dig deeper than your generic asensor concepción.

9. Take in the wonders of a panadería (bread bakery). Pick out a lot of bread as well as an empanada or two, and maybe throw in a manjar-filled something. Eat them.

10. Meet a chilean and listen to what he or she has to say.