Archive for category Valparaiso

Christmas was blissful. Hostel Bellavista in Santiago was a fab place to meet people and relax for a while to wait for Santa. I met two very nice young women named Karina (Brasilianera) and Camila (Colombiana) who found a Couch Surfing Christmas dinner to attend, and they invited me along. Kind Chilean Woman (whose name I can’t remember) prepared a rico turkey and various Chilean side dishes that I couldn’t name, and everything was deliciously comfort-foody. There was also a bit of English spoken, which I was thankful for. It was a great, homey way to spend a night that otherwise didn’t seem very Christmas-y at all. And the next morning American Andrew who works at Bellavista made a big garbage-y beard out of a plastic bag and ran through the place yelling HOs and throwing candy bars at us, which was, well, really hilarious.

Christmas Dinner through the door:

I did nothing for the next few days (other than take a caro, aburrido Santiago city bus tour and talk about nothing and try to form coherent opinions on crucial matters and eat delicious meals with my hostel mates), before I headed over to Valparaiso on the 28th to hang out at PataPata Hostel with German Julie for a few days before the revelry of New Year’s Eve.

A historical reenactment on the city bus tour:

Which was ridiculous, and frankly a bit drunken, and everywhere was a teeming mass of smiling humanity. We yelled, of course, and danced, and kissed lots of cheeks, and threw arms around each other every 5 or 10 seconds. It was very, very fun, one of the best.

Some highlights, one with charming Belgian Caroline, the architect:

So I took the next few days (maybe a week) off and sat on the beach in various coastal towns and read dumb novels that I found (stole) at hostels, before heading to Ritoque to meet up again with lovely Camila and really, truly relax while doing absolutely nothing except eat delicious seafood, drink wine, and try to surf, which I absolutely excelled at, at least in my mind.

Totally stoked:

Also,

1] Crazy abandoned house party that I went to with super sweet Caroline and Serge and Julie, the two coolest Frenchies that I’ve ever met, and that Camila happily showed up at out of the blue, and then disappeared just as quickly.

2] La Bicyclette, owned by Gilles and beautiful and oh, so, French and quaint and a place that I could live, or work at, or own someday after bicycling across the world.

From my window at La Bicyclette:

3] Insane 19-year-old Dane Mads, with no filter. Example quote: “Hey, Ass.”

4] Julie’s Brazilian Adventure, causing an unexpected firing, for a very unexpected reason.

5] Amazing, expensive 5 course catered Hostel Dinner on NYE, an hour and a half late, but happy and delicious and full of wonderful people glad to be away from home and in good company on the holiday.

6] Fire Storm on a day trip to Valpo with Korean Lee and Mike Joyce (from Manhattan!) and Camila, when the sky was orange smoke covering the sun, and huge chunks of ash fell into our hair and our lungs and our delicious outdoor meals. And we ran practically screaming from the city.

Firestorm:

7] Bizarre Silver Tide of a school of sardines that washed up on Playa Ritoque while trying to escape from some evil predatory fish. Literally millions of gasping, flopping lives flailing around, making sounds like a huge sputtering omelet. And tender-hearted Camila scooping up a few dozen at a time with the help of a nearby 8-year-old and throwing them back into the sea as quickly as she could.

Reverse Lemmings:

8] Relaxing, talking, thinking, processing the last 8 years of my life with patient, lovely Camila, trying not to complain too much, attempting to figure some things out, achieving some small moments of clarity.

Finally, again:

9] Flipping out with a million and a half people (all seemingly in one park) at the stroke of midnight, with everyone absolutely losing their minds for a solid 60 seconds. Intense, blurry, loud, sweaty, and unforgettably fun.