Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso.
This is how sting sang about Valparaiso. At the end of our journey we visited this colourful gem for one day. It's fantastically located, about 100km from Santiago, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It used to be the main port of Chile, one of the biggest and busiest in South America. Actually, it still is the third largest metropolian area in the country, right next to it there's another large city named Vina del Mar. Valparaiso spreads on a few steep hills so walking around means going up-and-down all the time, but this in one of the factors that give Valparaiso its unique charm. Established in 1536 it used to be a significant trading point with Europe and the US. Notable features include Latin America's oldest stock exchange, the continent's first volunteer fire department, Chile's first public library, and the oldest Spanish language newspaper in continuous publication in the world, El Mercurio de Valparaiso. A number of times devastated by earthquakes and uprisings, but somehow it always managed to regain its strength.
In general, Chilenos are said to be one of the most artistic nation in Latin America when it comes to painting, poetry, music. For example it was home to Pablo Neruda, a poet known worldwide. Valparaiso is an explosion of art and colour that embraces all the artistic features. Yes, I have seen many bohemian-street-art districts in a few cities so far, but here it was definitely the most vivid and spectacular of them all. Most of the city is colourful, either by the basic colours of the houses to murals and art installations hiding behind every corner. It was a pretty successful attempt of turning something neglected and unwelcoming into something valuable. It attracts milions of tourists every year. But there is no main plaza, a central spot that everybody is cramped in, that's the beauty of it. The whole city seems to be kept in this manner, the centre might be the most spectacular but other discticts are enjoyable too. There are just so many viewpoints opening up to hills covered in small colourful buildings, and to the ocean as well.
