|
Solfari : Places :
Endurance :
Valparaiso
|
|
|
|
|
After the short 2 hour bus
ride from Santiago, I grabbed a taxi to the Brighton Bed and Breakfast
where I would be staying for 4 nights.
The streets wind and weave in every
direction making it difficult to get from one point to the next without
a good map. Luckily, my taxi driver was able to manuever us to
Cerro Concepcion, the hill on which Brighton resides.
It was obvious that the driver had never been to Brighton because he
parked his car and admired the view while turning and giving me the
thumbs
up sign. It would not be the last thumbs up that I received.
|
|
|
Cerro Concepcion Facing East
Valparaiso, Chile
|
Email
Photo
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cerro Concepcion Facing West
Valparaiso,
Chile
|
Email
Photo
|
|
Brighton Bed and Breakfast
is a gorgeous yellow a framed building that sits as one of the city's
landmark
spots. About 200 feet above the business district and easily
accessible
by Ascensor Concepcion, the bright yellow exterior is visible from the
beaches
of Valparaiso.
I had lunch one afternoon sitting on the
patio that overlooks the city. My waitress had only been studying
English for a year but she was quite good at it. She was one of
the few English speakers that I met during the entire time in
Valparaiso.
With Brighton as my launching point, I set
out to find the local Irish pub for any city with as important a port
as Valaparaiso was and with as many places named after it's founder,
O'Higgins, would surely have a good Irish pub!
Initially, I started walking back towards
the bus station, looking up and down all of the side streets in search
of that elusive Guiness sign, much like searching for christmas gifts
in
late December while your parents are away. In spite of the
intense
late summer sun bearing down, the cool ocean breeze kept the air
temperature
a very comfortable 75 degrees.
|
|
|
I arrived at the bus station
without crossing paths with my elusive prey and returned towards
Brighton
on a different street in an attempt to change my odds.
Unfortunately,
I had no luck and decided to review my Lonely Planet for assistance.
Interestingly,
there was a bar that I had noticed but forgotten about: Bar Ingles.
|
|
|
 |
|
Valparaiso
Architecture
Valparaiso, Chile
|
Email
Photo
|
|
Would an English pub do as
a replacement for an Irish pub? I quickly gathered my things and
left to find out!
After walking up and down the same street 4 or 5 times, I finally
realized that there was a non-descript door that was Bar Ingles.
I cheerfully entered to find quite an authentic English looking
pub.
However, after a few minutes I realized that this was not going to be
the congregation place for the hundreds of English speakers in Valpo.
It was about 6:30 pm and there were only 10 people at various
tables with
the waitresses preoccupied cleaning glasses.
|
|
|
Undaunted, I sat for a Coke
on the rocks and began pouring over my book again in a desperate
attempt
to find a more suitable place for drinks. It was not to be.
Yet,
in Bar Ingles, I found something rather interesting: an English
bar
that wasn't trying too hard to shun the local culture. By that, I
mean most good Irish pubs in non-English speaking countries have
authentic
Irish folk working there and attract loud tourists but few real locals.
Bar Ingles was definitely an English pub that had real locals
working
and enjoying this foreign, yet local establishment.
|
|
|
One of the truely memorable
experiences of my Valpo stay was when I went to Bar Ingles to watch the
Santiago Wanderers, the local soccer team, play Boca Juniors, the
Argentine
powerhouse, in the opening match of Copa Libertadores, the South
American
Champions League.
The people were juiced up like a lightning storm for this match and the
Wanderers did not disappoint as they drew at Boca's stadium in an
entertaining and unexpected result.
Rather surprisingly, on my way home that night, I met a woman from
Atlanta while riding the Ascensor Concepcion back to Brighton.
|
 |
|
Armada
de Chile
Valparaiso, Chile
|
Email
Photo
|
|
|
|
Realizing that Valparaiso was a
picturesque
city with beautiful hills and ascensors, I spent the rest of my stay
riding
the elevators up the hills.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Valparaiso
Skyline
Valparaiso, Chile
|
Email
Photo
|
|
|
|
|
Valparaiso Skyline
Valparaiso, Chile
|
Email
Photo
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Solfari : Places :
Endurance :
Valparaiso
|
|
