Round the world in 90 days!

Travel time: December 2006 - March 2007 | by Carolina Martinez

Valparaiso

We took a day trip to Valparaiso to have a look around. What an amazing place. In 2003, the city was listed as a protected world heritage site by UNESCO and you can see why. It is still a major port town but its hay-day was in the second half of the 19th century (pre-Panama Canal). There is a huge English influence in the architecture and the whole city is built up on the 45 or so hills that surround the bay. Pretty impressive stuff.

Cueca dancers

We all got in a (very) little boat and went for a spin around the bay. I was really surprised to find that it is totally prohibited to take a photo of Chilean naval vessels. If you look carefully in the distance, I think I might have unknowingly broken the law!

A sleeping seal . . .

Pelicans here are grey . . .

Have I broken the law again??

We went to a restaurant over-looking the ocean which was really lovely. There was great music playing while we sampled a mollusc called LOCO which can only be found on the coast of Chile and Peru. Quite a strange little critter.

Loco with potatoe and mayo (don´t forget the tomato garnish)

Enjoying my free mint liquor thingamee jiggy

Yes, this is definitely still a working port!

What a view. Unfortunately I didn´t manage to get a non-blurry night shot (you will need to use your imagination)

We took a little side-trip over to Viña del Mar which is a much newer town and a little more like our Surfers Paradise. Nice sunset but I prefered Valpo.

We were lucky enough to catch a Tango demonstration outside the restaurant. It was really beautiful. The girls were REALLY amazing. I think I almost lost Julius this night . . .