Valparaíso - In Street Art Paradise

After a stuffy night on the bus from La Serena, we arrive too early at the bus station in Valparaíso, at 5.45 am instead of the promised 7.00 am. Normally, you would be happy if the bus ride is as short as possible, but when you are repeatedly advised not to walk through the city in the dark and you arrive completely exhausted, it is rather annoying to have to wait at the bus station until it gets light. But oh well, we have time, we are just so terribly tired and it is cold. After three quarters of an hour, we set off and of course we arrive too early at the hostel - or let's call it a hole - again. Another three quarters of an hour waiting until someone opens the door and lets us in. Finally! The room is of course not ready this early, but at least we can drop off our backpacks and have breakfast. Then we shower (you always feel a bit dirty after these night trips..) and take a short nap. Then we explore the city, or rather: the many hills with their - partly working - elevators or funiculars. And they are really impressive! Colorful houses stack up next to and on top of each other, small paths and stairs meander up and down, and graffiti and street art can be found everywhere! We walk through the alleys, up and down, and admire the buildings and artworks. The higher you climb, the more beautiful the view of the sea and the large harbor. The sea is not accessible here, but the view is comforting. In an art market, we also find our travel wedding rings, as we deliberately left ours at home, but have been thinking of buying cheap ones on the way for our trip. And: there are strawberries on every corner! With the Swiss fair-trade chocolate we bought earlier (a rarity!), it is a true pleasure! And there is also pumpernickel and German whole grain bread in the supermarket! Valparaíso surprises!

On the next day, we walk to more hills with many little cafes and stores with beautiful products. As so often, we don't know whether to be happy or sad that we're traveling with backpacks and unfortunately have no space for these things...

But in the case of Valparaíso, pictures probably say more than a thousand words :)