"Little San Francisco"

Valparaiso has been described as "Little San Francisco." It really is strikingly similar to S.F. There is the bay, the anchored ships, lots of hills, funiculars in place of cable cars, electric streetcars, the same amount of drunks and bums in the streets, lots of wonderful restaurants, and the list goes on. However, Valparaiso is different in a number of ways as well. Many people paint their houses in striking colors. The whole town is poised on hills looking directlhy down onto the water. It's like the whole city of San Francisco found itself perched on top of Russian Hill. The ships in the commercial port are right smack dab in front of your nose. Even the view from the window in my room in my hostal is wonderful! The numerous trucks going to and from the docks go through tunnels so as not to clog up the streets of the picturesque city which has been named a World Heritage Site. Many old men stand around dockside watching cargo being loaded and otherwise "supervising." Of all the places I've been in Chile, Valparaiso is to me the most interesting, and the place that draws me in the most. It has a wonderful cosmopolitan feel to it. If I were to spend some time in Chile, I would choose Valparaiso.

Valparaiso is a photographer's and artist's dream home town. The numerous hills are laced with narrow streets and pathways. Each turn offers a new sight causing me to want to pull out my camera yet again. Pablo Neruda, probably Chile's best known poet, had a house here. It seems like Neruda had houses everywhere. But his house here is really wonderful. It consists of one or two rooms per floor, five stories high, connected by a narrow staircase. Each floor offers a stunning view onto the city. The top floor was his study with his writing table.

My hostal is near the top of a hill called Alegre. Each day I enjoy taking a different route walking down to the downtown. There are lots of other locals walking downhill. It only costs about 50 cents to take the colectivo back up the hill from the flat streets downtown. This means the only people walking UP the steep streets and stair-filled walkways are necking teenagers and tourists.

There are all sorts of kaffee and kuchen cafes and wonderful restaurants with menus of the day. There are a great number of bookstores, even though books here are unfortunately very expensive. As in all of Latin America, there seems to be a high tax on books. However, there are quite a few parks and streets populated with outdoor stalls selling everything under the sun, including used books.

Unfortunately, just like San Francisco, the fog comes in at night, lingers through the morning, and HOPEFULLY, burns off by the afternoon. Fortunately, in two of my three days here, the fog has lifted by the afternoon revealing beautiful views. The view at night from my hostal window is gorgeous: all the lights of the city and their reflection off the water of the bay. Marvelous!

Attached are some photos which I hope can give a little bit of a feeling for the place.