Valparaíso is… hard to describe. It has its grand, old buildings, and all this little ones, full of graffiti, some really run down… it’s not a nice city as such. It doesn’t have any specific, must-see sights, maybe except the house of Pablo Neruda which I missed.  But it’s a sight in itself. No wonder the UN declared it a World Heritage site by itself in 2003.

You can go to the beautiful Museo de Bellas Artes, that has a great collection of European painters and, more interesting, a lot of Chilean painters who painted Valparaíso and its surroundings throughout its history.

The building is beautiful by itself, a weird kind of art deco castle on top of Cerro Concepción with a fantastic view over the bay and the harbor.

In the afternoon, my friend Sebastián came over from Santiago, and we did a walk through the city together. He showed me the Market, Mercado Cardonal, an old iron structure, overflowing with fruits and vegetables… downright spilling out onto the streets and sidewalks.

We went at a later hour, so parts of it were already closed, but it was still a great sight to visit. I wish we had conserved our markets in Europe, they are such great places to wander, smell, see and eat. Who wants to spend time in a supermarket?

Sebastián then took me on a ride on Valparaíso’s Metro, linking the city along the coastline to Viña del Mar. We took a quick ride to the Port, an area I had not visited alone before, as everybody, including my Lonely Planet said it was a kind of risky area for tourists, even during the day. It felt totally fine, though.

Spontaneously we hopped onto a boat and took a guided tour through the bay, with a few stories told by the kids who ran the boat…. We had great views of the city and its hills from the water. I’m sure this must look amazing by night.

After that, we just needed to eat something, so we headed for a couple of little shops around the Mercado del Puerto, buying fresh bread, wine, avocados, peppers and cheese, all you need for a nice hotel room dinner.

In true South American fashion, we had a nap in the evening before going out into the night. I never thought I could wake up at midnight to go out, but it worked.

We went to Coyote Quemado Bar, a cute little place with two floors, and incredibly cheap drinks. We had Gin Tonic, and not the smallest, for 600 Pesos, something around 90 cents. You can get drunk for cheap here.

On we went to Mascara Club, a place I had wanted to go the night before, but I was too tried. It was fun!!! They played the best music in years, from Madonna to the Cure, on to the B52’s, the Pet Shop Boys and Erasure, Blondie and Depeche Mode. No fillers, just great music.

After finishing our drinks there we walked over to the Port area to El Pagano Club, a nice little multi-floor dance club, that was pretty full for a Wednesday night with a fun, unpretentious crowd.

Valparaíso’s reputation as a city to go out and have a good time is absolutely justified… who would expect so many people out on a wednesday night…

We climbed up the stairs to my Hotel pretty drunk at 4 am in the morning…

What more can you say?