After my breakfast at Cafe Melba, I went to the pre-columbian art museum for a visit and then took the two hour bus ride west to the coast. Valparaiso is a gritty working port and there are some scruffy areas. Thankfully there is physical seperation via the 40 or so hills that surround the bay. Much like La Boca in BsAs, there is lots of corregated tin and bright colors but due to the hills the streets and alleys wind every which way (almost like Venice without the water). My hotel Latitud 33 Sur is very minimalist hip and perhaps out of character for the area, but I love it. My room clings to the hillside and the large single bed (bigger than a twin) faces a wall of windows. (facing the hill)
[as those of you who paid attention at the whaling museum lectures know, Valparaiso is very much linked to Nantucket and the whaling industry. The few survivors of the Essex were rescued just off the coast. There does not seem to be a lot of whaling history here but I will check in the morning.]
(Happy Birthday Dad!) After a quick call to FLA, I settled into a nice restauarnt La Concepsion for a really nice meal of ceviche three ways - salmon, calimari and reinata - and then some nice rare tuna. The restaurant is set on several levels of an old house wirh several levels of decks and patios overlooking the harbor. I have been gracefully entertained by my waiter Francisco - things are fairly slow since the earthquake and it seems there may be more damage here than I thought. He has been helpful with some suggestions of places to go and of course spots to eat!
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