Valparaios and Viña del Mar are two twin cities located on the Pacific Ocean.  Valparaiso is a very old shipping port (with occasional cruise ships) and contains a Chilean Navy Base, where as Vina del Mar is the trendier beach town located about 10 miles up the coast.







Valparaiso


Through HostelWorld.com, we found an amazing Bed and Breakfast, which was a perfect break from the hostels.  The owners of the house rent out the 3 extra bedrooms in their beautiful home.  The owner was full of suggestions for places to see and made an amazing breakfast of mixed fruit, yogurt, toast and salami.



Valparaiso is a city built on the steeps hills along the ocean.  To help the residents of the hills, each hill has a number of elevators (called ascensors), which were two sleds on a pulley.  Most of the public ascensors costs about .20 cents each way, but some of the private ones had different prices for going up or down. The ascensor at the bottom of our hill (Cerro Alegra) was the oldest and still working (from 1883).



The hills are full of cobblestone streets and pathways of stairs that could lead to anywhere.  Without a map it would be very easy to become lost (well as lost as you can be until you head down the hill and start again).  Because of it is unusual nature as a 19th century colonial city, it became a UNESCO site in 2003.




Before the opening of the Panama Canel, Valparaiso was a wealthy and busseling sea port with most of the countries bank.  But since the opening of the Panama Canal, the shipping industry slowed down and most of the cities banks moved to the new economic center and capital, Santiago.  In 1990, the country moved their National Congress from Santiago to Valparaiso to decentralize the power that Santiago had accumulated.

While the town is covered in graffiti, it is mostly very interesting and look to be commissioned by the buildings owners.  One hill even setup an "Open Air Musuem" which set aside space for murals to be painted along a long walking path.







Viña del Mar

Using the modern train that connects the two cities (as well as many others more inland), we took a day trip to Viña del Mar for lunch and to visit their beach.