Welcome to Valparaíso - City of a Port, Beaches, Arts, Graffiti and a lot of Culture (Unesco World Heritage Site)

So we make our way to the most lively, historically significant and beautiful city in Chile, as described in the legends. In the afternoon, we arrive in the city of Viña del Mar by bus. It is a small neighboring city that has grown together with Valparaíso in the course of development. It has a beautiful, long stretch of beach and many high-rise buildings. It reminds a little bit of Miami. During our stay in Valparaíso, we decide to visit this beach section on one of the following days. We were not disappointed, the beach is clean and fine, the crowds are also limited and the water is clean and freezing cold. Just what you want for a perfect day at the beach. Describing Valparaíso in a few words is very difficult for us. The city has a large port, which regularly receives large container ships from Germany. Valparaíso is one of the largest commercial ports in South America and is therefore a hub for imports and exports. Thus, the port here already reminds of a miniature version of the Port of Hamburg. Furthermore, there is a large naval base of the Chilean Navy here. As a former Marine soldier, my heart naturally jumps for joy and Marius, the old seafarer, didn't miss a day without visiting the port. You can take a harbor tour here for relatively little money and we can only highly recommend it. In addition to the above-mentioned ships, you can also admire many other ships such as cruise ships or smaller freighters, as well as sea lions, which enjoy sunbathing on navigation buoys. Furthermore, you get a first impression of the size and structure of the city. It was built on 46 hills. A sea of colorful houses, villas and shanties as well as some high-rise buildings create the overall picture of Valparaíso. The whole city is decorated with colorful graffiti and generously designed squares. To our luck, there was a free concert on one of these squares in the middle of the city by the harbor on the first day. Thousands of people came and danced, sang and celebrated. Marius and I still discuss the number of people and the size of the square today. To come to a consensus, an estimated 2000-8000 people came to a square size that corresponds to or does not correspond to the Maximiliansplatz in Bamberg. :D

In general, you quickly get the impression here that this city has simply been kissed by life. There are countless and super delicious cafes and restaurants, flashy bars and pubs, as well as plenty of street and survival artists who make your day here much more enjoyable. In order to explore the city with all its corners and mountains, we recommend sturdy footwear for all the stairs and climbs or the elevators/lifts that have been there for over 100 years. They resemble a cable car with railway wagons or small houses as cabins. They safely bring you up the mountain. Furthermore, there was a tango dance competition throughout the week, which was also free and which we visited several evenings. The winners all came from Argentina. Towards the end of our stay in Valparaíso, we also met Anton, a Ukrainian, with whom we enjoyed a few bottles of wine on the last evening before we headed to Santiago, the capital of Chile, the next day. All in all, we leave this city with a good feeling because the announcements that Valparaíso is Chile's most beautiful and lively city can only be confirmed by us so far. A visit to this city is definitely worth it. But now we are looking forward to the capital city.

Until then

Your Marius and Max