Cronica de Viaje - 14 - 15 Febrero

I met Javi and his friend for lunch and after that they took me to the typical "Cafe con Piernas". I couldnt believe it! Was so funny! At 3 pm we where inside a small room, all dark with fluorescent lights, a small bar in U shape, all men around having coffee as the most natural thing in the world and in the middle of the Bar 2 women with no clothes..well, just minimal bikinis , but minimal! and they only serve coffes! Was so weird being there and not having at least a Gin and Tonic! Obviously I couldnt take pictures in a place like that but you must go to a cafe con piernas if you come to Santiago one day.
After that I was alone again, and I walked to Barrio Brasil. I really liked the atmosphere and as first impression, this is the place I would probably lived if I lived in Santiago. I saw really nice cafes, and is not a touristic zone at all.
I crossed half the city to go to the Bellas Artes Museum. The building is beautiful and is worth just to go inside only to have a look at the main Atrium. There where few interesting exhibitions.
From there I walked to Barrio Bellavista, known for its colorful facades and its cafes and restaurants. This is the place to go out at night. Was nice to walk around and I ended up on the base of Cerro (hill) San Cristobal. From there I took a "funicular" (sorry my english is not so good!) and I went up the Hill. The views are great, and you can see the enormity of the city... it extends kilometres and kilometres and you can see the Andes on the back.
On top of this Hill there is a big statue of the Virgin Mary (as per Rio de Janeiro). On the base of this statue there is a small chapel where people leave candles to the virgin. The funny thing is that they leave the candles with the bag, so there was plenty of colourful bags on the floor with the candles. Didnt take a picture as there were people praying.
I went down the Hill and had a beer in one of the trendy places in Bellavista. Alone....
Javi picked me up from there and we went to pick up Eva. From there we went to a typical Chilean place called "El restaurante de Doña Tina" where we had a great chilean meal. Was a lovely evening and we took few pictures.
This morning I took the Bus and I went to Valparaiso. Valparaiso is caothic. The city is ugly but if you go up the small hills with the Ascensores (lifts) you can see these colourful houses, similar to fabelas, but quite safe. I have done plenty of pictures of them.
I had lunch in this really nice restaurant "Cafe Vinilo" in one of the Hills. I loved the place, and from there I have gone walking to La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda´s house in Valparaiso. The waiter on the restaurant told me was 10 minutes walk but 40 minutes I arrived exhausted. But its really worth the visit! that was really interesting and I loved that house.
From there I have taken a bus to Viña del Mar, where I am now. Viña del mar is famous for it's beaches and because people from Santiago come here in Summer. My god! IS AWFUL! I didnt like it at all, and after this post I will go back to Santiago. This is worse than Benidorm!
This evening maybe I meet Laura, a friend from university that now lives here. Would be good to see her!
By the way.. who said travelling alone was easy to meet people? :-)