Spring break travels

First of all I want to point out that while Americans consider themselves patriotic, they are not near as patriotic as Chileans. For the fourth of July we go watch fireworks, and sometimes have a picnic. In Chile, for September 18th, you take the whole week off, eat, drink, party, dance the Cueca (national dance), and watch fireworks several nights in a row. Hence, all students get a week off from school. So for my week off I traveled north to Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, and Santiago.

Unlike in the United States, bus travel in Chile is incredibly nice, and incredibly well used. The bus ride from Valdivia to Valparaiso was about 13hrs with a few stops in between. For the long haul routes such as this one you travel overnight. I was a little unlucky in that I happened to choose the bus company that stops in Viña del Mar first before Valparaiso. I didn't realize this so I got off and ended up having to take a taxi the rest of the way to Valparaiso (only about 15 minutes apart) which cost about $20, but it took me right to the house where I and several other program students were staying. Beautiful drive though. The house we stayed in was a little bit sketchy. It wasn't the cleanest, and the bathroom could have used some work. We all got to know each other a little more than we ever wanted, but it was only for three days, so it was tolerable. Here is the house:

Other than exploring the city, I was able to visit one of the many "lifts," or "funiculares," that give you a beautiful view of the city, the house of the famous poet Pablo Neruda, and El Museo Fancisco Fonk (actually located in Viña del Mar) which has artifacts from all over Latin America. The prize landmark is one of the few Moai heads from Easter Island (Isla de Pasqua) on mainland South America. One night I was also able to catch some fireworks from a hill near our house. Here are some more photos:

Being in Valparaiso reminded me a lot of being in Europe. The city is characterized by its European architecture, vibrant colors, wild artwork, and of course its hills:

As great as Valparaiso was, after three days I was ready for Santiago. I took a bus early Wednesday morning, got off at the station "Pajaritos," and took the metro to La Moneda, where my friend Pablo met me. He was staying with his brother not too far from there. What was awesome was that his brother lives in a high rise condominium so I was able to get some great rooftop photos of the city! Pablo accompanied me around Santiago and together we went to the Cerro San Cristobal (which we walked all the way up and down, taking about 30-45 minutes each way), Cerro Santa Lucia, La Moneda (the equivalent of the White House), La Plaza de Armas, and el Centro Constanera (the tallest building in South America). Being in Santiago was also the first time I was actually able to see the Andes mountains as I cannot see them from Valdivia.

Santiago from 27 floors up 

Pablo and I

El Centro from Cerro San Cristobal with the Andes behind

La Moneda

Cerro Santa Lucia

I originally was planning on returning from Valparaiso later in the week but ended up changing my plans to return with Pablo Wednesday night. The rest of the week I planned to spend with my Chilean friends. Unfortunately now I am a little sick and have been home in bed most of the weekend so I have missed out on those things. But I am lucky I decided to come home early! But other than being sick my first spring break was great!