Round the World with C: Where I rest my head: Valparaiso, Chile

Ever since I caught a glimpse of Valparaiso during my trip to Viña del Mar a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to return to explore more of what the beautiful coastal city had to offer. A friend at school, Anna, said she´d be up for joining me so we set out after classes on Friday for the 90 minute bus ride towards the ocean. Upon arrival we managed to navigate the public bus system and Ascensor up to the neighborhood of Cerro Concepcion where our hostal was located. Alas, the real adventure started when we tried to check in and there was no record of our reservation. When I pulled it up on my email, I realized I had actually booked us for Monday-Wednesday of the following week, perhaps it had been a late night before....regardless, they had space for us for the night in a mixed dorm room, which we happily took. My friend Will, who had previously lived in Valpo for a few years, had given me another recommendation for a hostal in the area, so we set out to find that one and ensure we had a place to stay on Saturday. Lucky for us, Will´s recommendation turned out to be this fantastic little place made up of all private rooms with balconies overlooking the harbor, we were ecstatic to have an awesome bed booked for the following night.

Where I rest my head:
Location: Hostal Casa Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Chile. This was a very adequate hostal in a perfect location on Cerro Concepcion. The staff is super friendly and helpful and we met up with a lot of like-minded travelers who wanted to explore the city and the nightlife together. The free breakfast int he morning is the best I´ve seen at any hostal, including scrambled eggs and juice!
Length of Stay: 1 night

Outside of view of Hostal Casa Valparaiso

Dorm room in Hostal Casa Valparaiso

Location: La Maison du Filou, Valparaiso, Chile. A very quaint and comfortable hostal with just 5 guestrooms also located on Cerro Concepcion, this was the perfect place to get a little more quiet and a really nice room while still on a budget. The manager was a bit odd at times, but super friendly and helpful all the same. It wasn´t social at all though, so we were happy to have made some friends the first night that we could hang with for the remainder of the weekend.
Length of Stay: 1 night

La Maison du Filou room with a view!

Aside from our hostal mishap, the rest of our trip continued perfectly. The weather was perfection and we spent both Friday afternoon and Saturday day walking though the city, exploring the amazing winding roads and spectacular street art, taking in the impressive views at the top of the Cerro´s and even setting out on a short boat ride around the harbor with some of our new hostal friends. We also had the pleasure of visiting one of Pablo Nerudo´s houses up in the hills of Valpo which they´ve turned into a bit of a museum complete with audio walking tour. Of course being next to the ocean ensures some delicious and fresh seafood meals. On Friday night, we treated ourselves to an awesome fish dinner and a bottle of wine at a restaurant we had read about in Lonely Planet, Caruso. The staff was friendly and the fish, baked in foil with tomatoes and onions was muy rico! On Saturday afternoon, we stopped for, yet, some more fish for lunch at a recommendation in one of the plaza´s near the Port. Saturday night, we really wanted to try to eat at this super trendy spot, Pasta e Vino, but being a budget traveler, and the fact that it is super popular and had no available reservations, ensured we didn´t blow our whole weekend´s $$ on the meal. Instead, we asked if we could sit at the bar for a glass of wine and entrada, which was perfect since we were able to chat with the bartender, take in the ambience and have more than enough to eat on a budget! Following dinner, we met back up with some new friends from our first hostal for a night on the town, which was a blast and I ended up being the only American in the group which was certainly a first, it was like the United Nations with friends from Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Chile all together... and like Santiago going out in Valpo means dancing until well past 4am....it was wonderful to have a lazy day Sunday to rest and enjoy some sunshine before heading back to Santiago for my final week....I can´t believe it, I´m so sad to leave but I know there are some amazing adventures upcoming!