I probably took about 200 photos, but I tried to narrow it down for this post. There are a lot more pictures on my Facebook if you're dying to see more (and you should be, since Chile rocks).
First we went to Isla Negra, where one of Pablo Neruda's houses has been turned into small museum.
This is the view that Neruda had from his house...lucky man
We spent the night in Viña del Mar.
We watched an amazing sunset on the beach!
The next morning, we took a bus to Valparaíso, which is the older and more historically significant of the two cities. Ten years ago, Valparaíso was the poorest city in Chile and Chileans didn't have very much interest in trying to improve it. But now it's making a serious comeback -- in the past decade, a lot of its former beauty has been restored and new shops, restaurants, and hotels are popping up everywhere.
We took a two-hour walking tour through the city, and everything we saw was amazing. So many colorful little houses and beautiful murals.
Our tour guide referred to Valpo as "an urban jungle" -- because the 500-year-old city was never officially founded, it's not laid out in any sort of grid. Instead, buildings popped up all over the place, and the city adjusted along the way. Now Valpo is full of tiny alleyways, winding streets, and tons of awesome and varied architecture.
The city is spread out over more than 20 hills, so the views are great.
We ate an incredible 4-course almuerzo (lunch, the biggest meal of the day in Chile) at this restaurant that overlooks all of the city! I should have taken pictures of the food because it was equally amazing.
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