Valparaiso

 

You really have to be in good shape to walk the streets of Valparaiso (or at least bring your inhaler- it’ll save you a trip to the hospital). Each block is compiled of steep hills which is why it is a comparable image to San Francisco. Aside from the vertical inclines, the bohemian town is known for its intense graffiti artwork. Every stone wall, gate, and building is saturated with beautiful graffiti; it’s all over. It definitely wasn’t the type of graffiti you would picture in Harlem or East Saint Louis, but rather the graffiti I would purchase for my apartment (if that’s even possible?). It made me realize the creativity and underrated aspects of graffiti. It was purely beautiful.

My Dad’s friend, John, has a daughter, Laura, who studied her junior year abroad in Valparaiso. Post college, she decided to teach English there. We met up with her and she showed us around town. If you’re a tourist and you don’t have a guide or detailed map, then invest in a GPS. Each cobblestone street intersects with thousands of other cobblestone streets…I’m good with directions, and Valparaiso was beyond my directional-intellectual capacity. Too confusing. The city is routed similar to a maze minus the corn stalks. After walking around for several hours, we realized the streets are designed in a large, intertwined circle. Overall= get a GPS.

After splitting with Laura, we packed our backpacks and bussed to the most heavenly place of life: Ritoque…

Viña del Mar

When you say you’re going to Chile and you want the beach experience, then the place to go is Viña del Mar. It’s pretty much an unwritten law there. Viña del Mar is a 15 minute bus ride from Valparaiso, and its small city ambiance resembles Miami Beach (minus the Guido’s and steroids). I don’t have much to say about Viña del Mar considering the fact we literally spent the whole day baking under the scorching hot sun! A day so well worth the future damage. Come on, we looked great with our tans!

Matiz Pub

In one of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, he talks about the chance of bumping into random people halfway across the world. One may think what a coincidence or what a small world. In reality, coincidences are part of the natural world; it is a statistic that's bound to happen…

On that note, the strangest thing happened to us…

Here was the plan: leave Santiago, bus to Valparaiso, and meet up with the boys. Obvious problem: we had no cell phones; meaning, we had no idea how, when, or where we were going to meet up with them.

After arriving in the Valparaiso bus terminal, we got directions (via public transportation) to Licanantay Hostel. We stepped out of what seemed to be a sherut looking vehicle and headed to the hostel. Valparaiso is a spitting image of San Francisco, so after climbing hills upon hills and passing bars upon bars, we heard loud (and I mean piercing) voices calling our names. Guess who made those powerful screams? Yep, yep, that’s right- ze Aussies! Coincidence? Small world? Or simply the mere laws of the world? You tell me. On that note, they were sitting in Matiz Pub with a few drinks in hand and having what everyone should always be doing- a great time!

We quickly dropped our bags in the hostel and headed back down to Matiz. We kept on saying, it’s late and we don’t really want to spend money tonight because we’ve been spending a lot so far. Well, we were in for a surprise. A great surprise, indeed. We walked inside Matiz and sat down to order drinks. I shrieked once I saw the prices of the drinks! After converting the Chilean peso back to Argentinean pesos then into U.S. dollars, we came to the conclusion that one drink would cost 1$. ONE DOLLAR. ONE DOLLAR. ONE DOLLAR. So, you can imagine that we quickly reversed our initial plans for the night and stayed out pretty late.

Matiz was one of my favorite bars that I’ve been to during the last 3 months in South America. It was a small hole in the wall bar but with its’ own character. The bartenders were eagerly friendly and with the help of Henry, they played incredible music. (The music was, more or less, on the same level or even better than the music at Sugar…tough call though…). After delicious drinks and more delicious drinks, the song “6 AM” by The Holidays came on (thank you Henry!), and I think I died, seriously. I freaked out, stood on my chair, and danced like a crazy girl. (For those who know me, just imagine!) Ahhhhhh thinking back to that moment really was one of the best moments of my life. I was listening to my favorite song, in a bohemian town, with the greatest people I have ever met to this day! I hope everyone can have a moment like I did and remember it for the rest of their lives. I promise you it’s one of the best feelings, and now I will always be able to think back to that night. I felt complete, and I bet once you experience your own type of moment; you too will also feel complete.

By the end of the night, the eight of us- music snobs- pretty much owned the pub with our specific song requests and intricate dance moves. Cheers to great nights and great moments!

Santiago, Chile

Mote Con Huesillo

 

If you ask any person, read a guidebook, or browse the net- most sources say Santiago, Chile is simply a “passer-by” city---meaning, you only need 1-2 days there, max. It is unfortunate the capital city of Chile has this reputation because it is most definitely false. I had little expectations of Santiago. After spending a short time there, I immediately thought I could easily spend a few weeks there. Even though Santiago is populated with around 5 million people, ironically, it happens to be one of the quietest and peaceful cities I’ve ever visited. I rarely heard honking or the typical loud noises you would hear in East Village.  Every person I met was so kind and helpful; Chileans are, by far, the warmest people! It’s as if it’s a law to be nice to your fellow citizens.

As I walked through the streets of Santiago, I noticed how there’s no particular architectural style. There’s a mix of European, Latin, and modern buildings that occupy the streets but nothing that chants CHILEAN-style. As my Chilean friend recently told me- Chile is still considered a 3^rd world country (what does that mean anyways? In my opinion, that’s just simply a label…). For being an “uncivilized” country, I was flabbergasted when I saw the intense business and industrial emphasis on the city. I observed countless of citizens walking, talking, and breathing the high-profile, business lifestyle. Goodbye Wall-street, hello Santiago!

We walked through Cerro San Lucia, which is a beautiful park that’s built on a mountain. The paths in the park coiled around the mountain from the bottom to top. This venue was very fascinating because every path led towards the peak of the mountain. It reminded me of an upward maze; and once you hiked to the top (free of the maze) you were able to see some incredible views of Santiago and the Andes Mountains. It was beautiful. (Side note= Santiago is a semi-industrial city that’s situated in the middle of the Andes mountains, so no matter where you look- your view is of the Andes.)

We then walked to Armas Plaza where we saw handfuls of painters and civilians doing their daily activities…we stumbled upon an interesting drink called mote con huesillo…I’m not going to lie it’s the strangest concoction ever: on the bottom of the cup rests the trigo (barley), and the cup is filled with peaches and the juice from a peach fruit cup. (You drink/eat it with a spoon.) I know exactly what you’re thinking, “Gross. Yuck. And is she actually serious?” YES. It was the most amazing, refreshing drink I’ve ever had. (I like weird things, so when I saw this, it wasn’t even a question if I was going to buy it or not. I was the first to drink it, and boy was I thrilled. Amazing.) Mote con huesillo is very popular and the national summer drink of Santiago. People sold liters of it on every corner; it reminded me of all the shwarma stands along 34^th street. It was good stuff.

Oh this was weird—I was walking through the streets and then saw a few surprising signs. I saw Nine West, Hushpuppies, and Dunkin Donuts stores. I was in a total state of shock, mainly, because who shops at Hushpuppies anymore? Kidding, but seriously. I traveled all the way to South America to get out of the U.S., and here I was getting sucked back into it. (I really wanted a strawberry frosted donut, but my rule is that I only eat local foods in the specific country I’m in. So, eating D.D. in Chile wasn’t going to cut it for me.) It was a weird feeling experiencing globalization all the way in Santiago because even Argentina isn’t that “Americanized.” I think the craziest feeling was knowing Santiago has a Dunkin Donuts while Milwaukee doesn’t!

The next day we walked to Parque Forestral where we saw the most appetizing playground. We couldn’t resist. The five of us (Amy finally came) ran to the swings, and acted like kids again. I swung so high I was waiting for my Dad to run under my swing like he did when I was little! Haha! We then headed thru the park and 2 stray dogs kept following us. We named them Chile and Hannah (for purposes only us girls will have to keep secret!). We ended at Central Mercado where lots of produce and seafood is sold. (I bought the most sensational cherries there!) After my delicious indulgence, we headed to Bellavista. This area of Santiago is known as the hippy, bohemian sector---You can only imagine how much I loved it! The streets were extremely charming with the cutest craft markets, cafes, and restaurants.

We eventually made our way back to the hostel and took a bus to Valparaiso where we were supposed to meet up with the boys… 

 

Barrio Paris

View from the top of Cerro San Lucia

Busride from Mendoza to Santiago

Waking up in a hot, muggy hostel room with 12 bunkmates at 6:30am is NOT the most pleasant experience---especially if you’re rushing to make a 7:30am bus to Santiago. I think everyone in our room wanted to kill us…honestly, who cared, it’s not like we were ever going to see them again.

So after huffing and puffing, we scored the front 4 seats of the double-decker bus. The 7 hour drive from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile is specifically through the Andes Mountains, so you can imagine what the scenery and view looked like…breathtaking! Ahhh it was gorgeous! About 4 hours into the ride, everyone had to get off the bus with their bags and go through immigration and border control. After Chilean officials almost arrested Shoni for “sneaking” an apple into Chile (god forbid produce should ever enter another country), we headed back onto the bus. The unexpected process took about an hour, which was fine because I came out with a cool Chilean passport stamp (and of course Shoni)…haha.

Haha it was actually really funny because by the 5^th hour of the ride we were abnormally bored. They eventually played Oceans 12…this was amazing news, right? Wrong. They decided to show the movie in Portuguese with Spanish subtitles. Seriously? At least play it in Spanish with Portuguese subtitles. I just don’t get it…it’s not like there were any Brazilians on the bus…ugh. This left me to “study” my Lonely Planet book and Lena’s Frommer’s Guidebook from cover to cover. (rule=stick with Lonely Planet…Frommer’s Guidebook sucks, and it’s geared for the average 50 year old who goes traveling post-retirement…meaning, the book doesn’t give you anything exciting to do.)

After seven hours, we finally made it to Santiago and attempted to understand the bizarre currency…

 

Hott Springs

 

Hot springs in Andes Mountains

Deciding on going to the hot springs instead of hiking Aconcagua began when…

Naïve thinking.

Not only is Mendoza the home of wine but it’s also the dwelling place of the Aconcagua--> the largest mountain in the Americas. Since hearing about this mountain, I decided when I go to Mendoza I’m going to climb it. Well, clearly, that was wishful thinking. The day was approaching and Lena and I were getting pumped about climbing it. After inquiring about the hike, the hostel told me we need to get a license to climb it, which takes a few days to get, and aside from that- the actual hike can take days (meaning, we weren't able to do it in one day). So that explains that.

Hot springs here I come!

Of course we were late when we wanted to sign up for the package deal for the hot springs---the only advantage of going through the company was the door-to-door pickup. We originally thought, big deal; who cares about the convenient transportation, we’ll figure it out on our own. After a few hitch hikes and bus rides we finally made it to the springs. Well, at least we thought we did. We ended up at the public springs instead of the private ones, oops. I think on any day we would have been happy with the public springs but that day happen to be one of Argentina’s many redundant public holidays. We contemplated on going to the public springs but there were heaps of people and it kind of had that grimy, unpleasant feel to it. So we nixed the idea. Going to the public springs probably would’ve been one of the worst hygienic decisions of life. Seriously.  The decision was made, and on we went to search for the private springs in the hotel.

Let me remind you--> since we didn’t do the group deal and got dropped off at the wrong springs we came across an unexpected adventure. We trekked through fields upon fields and train tracks upon train tracks just to get to the hotel. All because we didn’t sign up for the package deal. Oh well. Next time. After our tired legs arrived at the hotel…the aura of the hotel was the kind that infused a relaxation spell all around (dunno if that makes sense, but you get the point...). We were in complete awe. The type of awe we related to Heaven (ok, maybe not Heaven, but something like it). This epic spa included: natural springs in the Andean mountains, pools, mud rooms, saunas, sauna-caves, massages, and more. What could be better?

Aside from the natural springs, which were amazing, my favorite part was the mud room. The point of the mud is for you to smear it all over your body and let it dry. Once it’s dry you wash it off and magically have smooth skin. Legit. I got a little carried away and poured bucket-size gobs of mud all over my body…lets just say, it took an extensive amount of time for it to dry. One guy, who was more extreme than me (didn’t know that could be possible), rubbed mud all over his body; including his hair…seriously. Either he was very excited, didn’t know what to do, or acquired true dedication to his body.  Probably all three.

The amount of time we spent in the springs was unfathomable. Later that day we got massages. At that point I was so relaxed I couldn’t even feel my limbs. Someone could have easily mistaken the amount of oil that was rubbed all over my body for the oil that’s served with bread in a restaurant. It took a lot of showers that day for all the oil to come off my body…kind of gross.

So even though I didn’t end up hiking Mt. Aconcagua, I had the best time in the springs….I felt like I was 50, but it was fantastic!

trekking to the private springs along train tracks

Malbecing thru Mendoza

wine vineyards

Tropiche winery

Have you ever seen the movie “A Walk in the Clouds?” (Keanu Reeves and a Hispanic actress are the main actors in the movie…it’s worth the rental.) Well, when I went biking in Mendoza, I felt like the Hispanic actress biking thru vineyards on unpaved roads and feeling free. I pretended to live vicariously through the actress because everything that day was as if it was a scene taken from her movie. Ahhhh what I would do to own a vineyard and make wine? The lifestyle is relaxing and laidback (and living in warm weather is always a plus). Everywhere we biked, everything we ate, and everything we did that day was simply perfect.

We rented bikes from a rental place called Maipu Bikes and biked to many wineries and also chocolate, jam, olive oil, liquor, and absinthe vineyards. For only 25 pesos (6 $US) we were given bikes (with cute baskets to place our bags…very “500 Days of Summer” style) for the full day, a bottle of water, and a glass of wine (if we’re being honest, it was gross wine). After a few bruises and falls into each other, we finally made it to our first winery.

There are small and big ones; renowned and lesser known ones; and fancy and simple ones. Overall, each winery is very unique. I wish I could remember the names, but my memory won’t allow me to. (If you’re planning on going…Maipu Bikes will give you a list of wineries to visit.) The first vineyard we biked to drastically increased our age by 15 years...we walked into the winery and the lady showed us around and told us about their wine. We bought a bottle and shared it because we didn’t want to go heavy at 10AM- we were still stopping at 7 other wineries. We sat on tree trunks in the heart of the vineyard and sipped our vino tinto (red wine) and felt very sophisticated (hence why I said we dramatically aged at this winery). After quite some time we made our way to the next winery and so on and so on.

We did however bike to a chocolate, jam, olive oil, liquor and absinthe vineyard (yes, a weird combination, but I didn’t make it…I just enjoyed it). We started off trying different olive oils then jams then chocolates and then to the big stuff--- flavored liquors and absinthe. My favorite liquor was the coco (chocolate-coconut) flavor…definitely worth the try! After tasting the various liquors, they lit a fire and began roasting sugar on silver spoons and melted it into the absinthe filled glasses. When it was ready, we cheered and downed those atrocious shots (Mom and Dad please don’t read…!) and felt a burning tingling go through my esophagus. Don’t ever do it…it was the grossest alcohol I’ve ever tasted. Aside from that, it was really cool going to this vineyard because it had a homey feel to it and everything was made there.

All the wineries close at 5PM, and that’s about the time the Beer Gardens start hopping. After biking and tasting wine in all seven wineries, we decided to make our final destination point be The Beer Gardens. It was quite amusing because when I walked in the “gardens” I instantaneously felt like I was back in Moshav Modiin but without Zelda. The layout of the “gardens” was the chillest place on earth. There were couches and chairs covered in bohemian tapestry placed either in tents or in the shade. The grass and tables were saturated with peanuts and their shells (you know, the kind you would find at the Brewer’s game?) The amount of Bob Marley that was played definitely didn’t bother the owners…yes, we get it…this place is for free-spirits. And, there was a bar to buy drinks. While everyone ordered beer, I prohibited my body from allowing alcohol to enter my body---so I ordered a multi-fruit liquado (smoothie). I don’t know what they put in the liquado, but it was the best one I’ve ever had…even Jamie thought so! Ahhhh The Beer Gardens was a great way to end the day…

After loosing the boys, we raced back to the bike rental place. Not only did Jamie, Henry, and Nick mysteriously arrive before us, they gave us the famous free glasses of wine the rental place handed out. Even though it was free it didn’t matter how much wine we drank that day, there was no way anyone was going to make us drink it. It was alarming that they would even serve it…I guess that’s why it was free.

That being said, biking through the wineries and vineyards made me realize how valuable time is. The eight of us click really well and didn’t let a minute go by without having a good time…the laughter that came out of us that day was memorable.

If you’re going to Mendoza, it’s a must to visit a winery or maybe seven...

Beer Gardens