happy new year

After hearing through the grapevine that Valparaíso is the place to be in Chile to bring in the New Year, myself and 9 others headed to the coast for the weekend. We rented a apartment in the nearby beach town Viña del Mar about 15 minutes from Valpo. After arriving on Thursday we chilled on the beach and watched one of the last days on 2010 disappear with a gorgeous sunset. The next day we caught a bus to Valpo to do a bit of sight seeing during the day. Valparaíso is spread over a cresent of forty-two hills (cerros), a higgledy-piggledy multi-coloured mix of mansions, houses and shacks. To explore we caught one of the many ascensores (some dating from 1883) up the Cerro Concepcion and made our way around steep flights of stairs and narrow winding roads, taking in the funky graffiti covering every spare inch of space.

After a short respite in Viña , we returned back to Valpo to get in on the NYE celebrations. We set up a good spot for ourselves on the ground close to the water to get a good view of the approaching fireworks show at midnight. We sat amongst young people and families alike, which increased in number as the night progressed making us glad we had got there early. We kept ourselves occupied playing ‘thumper’ and ‘telefono’, drinking and indulging in street food. The fire works when they finally started were amazing, the best I have ever seen and a great precursor for the giant street party that took place in the square after wards. Who knew a year ago that I would be celebrating the turning of 2011 in Chile? Not me that’s for sure. New Years resolutions? The only one that really comes to mind is to decide what I will be doing after this whole adventure ends, which is definitely a sad and slightly scary thought. I can’t say I really thought about it at all the next day which I spent nursing a Caña on the beach along with every other Chilean and his dog.
Happy New Year everyone!

View from the top of Cerro Concepcion in Valparaíso.

Viña del Mar NY day