Valparaíso and Viña del Mar

At the beginning of the new year, Ignacio showed me the port city of Valparaíso. First, we took a boat tour where we could see Chilean naval ships, a large freighter, seals, and of course the city itself from the water. We also passed by the 'islands' where the fireworks were launched the previous night.

After the boat tour, we explored the city on foot. Since the famous cable cars were unfortunately closed due to the holiday, we had to climb numerous flights of stairs to get a somewhat good view of the city. As the name Valparaíso ('Paradise Valley') suggests, it is colorful like paradise and surrounded by hills, or rather consists of these (over 40) hills. Since there is something special in every alley and on every corner in Valparaíso, be it graffiti or a cozy boutique, we walked through the streets without a specific destination to look around.

A day later, we explored Viña del Mar together. However, we didn't have much time to see everything, as I had to catch my bus back to work in the afternoon.

So we only visited the beach, ate at one of the city's most prestigious pizzerias, and walked to the Anfiteatro de la Quinta Vergara.

The amphitheater is an open-air theater located in the park of the same name in Viña. Every year, the six-day 'Festival de la canción' takes place there - a music competition where artists like Shakira have performed. It is even considered one of the most important music events on the continent.