… And the quietest air conditioner in the world
I reluctantly left Valparaiso today, although, I’m sure if I stayed too long it would have gotten old… wait… it already is old, but not in the way that I meant. Today’s photograph is of a park in Valparaiso that is all tiled in hearts. It is a real inspiration for anyone who wants to redecorate their bathroom. I found it on my final tour of the city which included a lovely boat ride of the harbour narrated by a man who could also speak English, so I was well-informed. The boat ride was highlighted by a close encounter with a sea lion which is called a sea wolf en espanol (lobo del mar). After the boat ride, I decided to save the taxi fare (about $10) and walk to the bus station. So far, the wheels on the suitcase are holding up. The bus fare back to Santiago was much cheaper (about $6) and it was an hour and a half ride. Note that the bus fare going to Valparaiso was about twice as much but only because it was a Saturday. Also more expensive than the bus ride was the taxi ride to the new hotel in Santiago, but not by much.
For those of you who may one day want to visit Chile, I have now compiled a few mental notes (tips) that I will share. None, some, or all of these tips might be based on real experiences I’ve had in the past few days.
1. Only take the orange and black taxis. They are the official ones, but if they have numbers on top, they are collectivos and have a standard fare, but follow a specific route. Think of them as miniature buses.
2. Practice your large numbers in Spanish because everything is a 3+ digit number. For example, my supper cost $4800 (pesos) which is about $10 Canadian.
3. Bring a wall adapter, so you can plug in your Canadian/U.S. electronics and also check the power requirements. For example, my computer’s adapter can handle 240v, but the phone adapter does not and will probably get very hot and may destroy your device (mine is fine, fyi, because I was smart enough already).
4. If you are used to telling direction by the sun, make sure to remember that the sun will travel in the northern sky in the southern hemisphere. It still sets in the west. It is also helpful if you ask someone to draw a north arrow on your tourist map if it doesn’t have one. If you get lost anywhere, then spend the extra money on a taxi back to your hotel after you wander.
5. Only for the advanced traveler: switch the television out of Spanish mode and into English mode and enjoy some programming from home with the English track rather than the Spanish track. Of course, it might be better to leave it on Spanish to practice before you have to order pizza (see below).
Despite being sad about leaving Valparaiso, now that I’ve spent some time wandering around the city center in Santiago, I think it has a lot to offer… after all, it does have a population greater than Toronto. The main thing that I miss is the very personal and home feel of the last hotel. This is more of a check-in and hide-in-your-room hotel. I’ve now met two people who are staying in hostels on their trip, and they love them because of that social feel. I toured one with Diana and thought that they were very nice, but I would probably still like getting a single room. A shared bathroom is no hay problema. I should mention that both are women, both are travelling alone, and both are older than me.
Food was not difficult to find in Santiago unless you are interested in “dining”. In that case, most ristaurantes don’t open until after 9 p.m. There are many cafes and eateries around that were open at a “reasonable” supper time. The one I finally settled on was Pizza Vesuvio which ended up being just around the corner from my hotel (I found out after I ate and left and found my hotel staring at me). For those of you who have to endure pizza norteamericana, please stop eating it now and learn how Chileans do it. My pizza was cooked directly in front of me after this “gringo” (i.e. me) stumbled through the ordering process (which I blame on being hungry and tired and only getting an A+ in Spanish class). The non-gringo who cooked it asked me something about the meat and since it looked raw, I communicated as best as I could to cook it which he was probably going to do anyway and probably wanted to know how well done… in retropect. Anyway, he threw a good handful of meat and onions on the grill and some bread and cheese in the oven. Note that the cheese was in thick slices and covered the bread. After a little bit everything was cooked and the meat and onions were piled on the bread and cheese and it was the best pizza ever, and it wasn’t just because I was hungry.
The last notable thing besides that the hotel room has crown and chair moulding, it also has the quietest air conditioner ever. It’s a balmy 30 Celsius outside and sleep-friendly 20 Celsius in my room and you have to go right up to it to hear it. It only took 2 hours or so to get to that temperature from when I arrived.
P.S. The staff in the restaurant called me gringo many times, but my Spanish professor assured the class that it was a term of endearment.