Santiago, Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar, Chile

These two days were so long ago it will be a miracle if I can remember any of it. So bare with me....

We arrived in the sea port town of Valparaiso for an overnight stay. Crazy as it sounds and if you saw how much I packed for this trip - you'd never think I needed anything but I found myself in need of more shorts. With what they charge for laundry around here - it was cheaper to buy shorts than wash them!

Scouring the internet I found an H&M in the capital of Santiago but the big question was how to make it there so that my cheap short shopping excursion wouldn't end up costing 4 times the amount of the shorts. It's about an hour away from the Port inland so we decided to hop onto the ship's tour of Santiago to get us there and then run into H&M and then use the same tour to get us back. Our plan went off without a hitch but unfortunately all I can tell you about Santiago is that it was hot, the city center had yet another lovely church and Uber works there.

A long ass trip for a few pairs of shorts but mission accomplished and they were even on sale so for $4.99 each I grabbed a handful and even a super cute "moo moo" dress to wear on board.

We promised our excursion guide who was so nervous about us leaving - I was like "hey trust me - I lived in Hong Kong, NYC and am pretty street savvy. I promise you we will be fine". We agreed to meet the rest of the tour in a restaurant called "Los Buenos Muchachos" for lunch and where the bus was going to go back to the ship. You could tell this restaurant survives on whatever deal they have with the cruise lines. Lines and lines of long tables with a VERY set menu and with military precision the food was served. All I cared about was the mission accomplished - H&M in Santiago only to be told by the girl who worked there that there was another H&M in Vina Del Mar about 10 minutes from the ship. UGH!!!!

Day Two we had arranged for a private tour through Viator - which BTW if I haven't mentioned has been our lifesaver when it comes to local tours and guides. Added to Get Your Guide - the tours I have booked are 1/3 the price of anything they offer on board and so much more intimate.

Our guide for Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar was Claudia, a local of Valparaiso who picked us up at 9am on day 2 and what an incredible day we had with her. We started driving to Vina Del Mar stopping at a lovely garden clock made with flowers in the ground. Andre got his obligatory photo with the local "law enforcement officers" and we got a glimpse of what we would see on Easter Island as there was a Moai statue outside the Museum Fonck! There was also a statue and plaque dedicated to Auguste Rodin 1840-1917! Claudia told us of the many Tsunami drills they have as they are directly affected by anything that happens in Japan and within hours their shores would be flooded by water and everyone would be running upwards to the hills. A quick stop at the Vina Del Mar H&M to return a few pairs of those shorts from Santiago and we made our way back to Valparaiso.

It was from here that we started the "walking" part of the tour at the port where so much land had been reclaimed and we saw a massive Monumento a Los Heroes de Iquique - During the war in the Pacific, May 1886 this monument pays tribute to the heroes of the naval operations of Iquique and Punta Gruesa. The Inquique naval battle was between the Chilean wooden ship and a Peruvian armored warship. The Chilean commander Pratt on the statue is about to sink on the warship.

From city center we took a ride up the hill on a "funiculars" - a cable car of sorts that gets you from the flats of the town to the top of the hills. The view was spectacular. What was so incredible was the art on top of the city... while it was a heck of a walk - the murals on the walls to a kid who skateboarding down some random hill. See video!

Our guide took us to a gallery owned by a friend of hers and the art he had in this vintage house was so "artsy" Pop art, classic paintings of Valparaiso, 3D sculptures - and the owner who we met was just a super cool guy who was "so impressed" with our stories he has us sign his "special book" - I felt like a D level celeb and grateful for that.

We met up with our onboard and new friends Colette and Erik - who were celebrating their anniversary for lunch at this lovely restaurant with a view of the city below. PS:They are just our favorite couple onboard and from Canada. They have been a joy to travel with and more on that/them in later posts.

Check out this link for a deeper look at the street art of Valparasio !

We cabbed it down the hill to the market in the steaming heat and made our way back to the ship. Two full days in Chile that went from H&M to this gorgeous seaside port everyone must visit!