A tiny little pearl at the Pacific called Valparaíso

Two hours bus ride from Santiago, you can visit the small town of Valparaíso. Some agencies are even offering day tours to Valparaíso. I decided to stay for four days in this lovely little town. Valparaíso bursts with vibrant energy, its colorful houses cascading down steep hills like a whimsical tumble of Legos. You can take a ride on the historic funiculars, soak in the bohemian vibes of Cerro Alegre, and admire the UNESCO-protected architecture, a legacy of the city’s 19th-century maritime boom.
I did not take the historic funiculars. It was just fun walking in the “Lego”-like neighborhood. Every little street was able to amaze me with colors, graffiti, or some little cafe with only two chairs outside on the street.

In some pictures, you are able to see a second reason for the Lego naming besides the coloring of the houses: some houses are built out of old shipping containers; it is so easy to stack them together.

From that maritime boom, only the Maritime Academy is left; the harbor is relatively tiny in international dimensions. Funny finding: The Harbor of Hamburg owns the port, leading to discarded firetrucks sometimes being shipped from Germany to Valparaíso, leaving the signs and plates still on the car.