Vibrant Valparaiso

You must be bored of all these alliterative headings by now. I know I am. Please keep reading. I promise to think of a new literary trick soon. Maybe. After waving goodbye to our congenial hosts, Sebastian and Toni, at our hostel that never slept in Santiago, we caught the bus up the coast to Valparaiso. A mere and blessed hour and forty five minute trip took us to the hilltop neighbourhood of Cerro Conception. There really is little else to do here but admire the array of brightly painted buildings in all their arty-ness. The bohemian abode has been the birthplace of more Chilean writers and artists than any other city. Pottering about its richly adorned cobbled streets it´s easy to see this as an inspirational environment. Heading down the hill into the town centre opens up a whole other world of grey, seedy working men´s bars, banks and gritty tramps. We soon found that we needn´t have bothered making the descent, not least because of the calf-crampingly steep hike back up to civilisation. Apologies to anyone with a delicate disposition for the picture of the stripey harlequin. I meant to Photoshop out the suggestive outline in the vicinity of his crotch but frankly lacked the inclination to do so.