Valparaiso

Ay, a beach town

an hour and a half outside of Santiago. And apparently, a drinking town, evidenced by the fact that no businesses (and I mean nothing besides maybe one or two bottle shops) were open before noon on a Saturday! This was a really busy coastal town but it suffered a lack of habitable coast. Most of the shore was dedicated to the port and hundreds upon hundreds of shipping containers. However, there were some old tramways up the mountains that are over 100 years old and are declared UNESCO world hertiage gems. Other claims to fame of Valparaiso include Latin America´s oldest stock exchange, Chile´s first public library and

the third largest population in the country. And a quick boat tour will almost guarantee a sea lion sighting!

It also is a fantastic place to take photos (maybe too many photos?). And in terms of livability, I really enjoyed eating fresh seafood and avacado, drinking cheap bottles of wine from the nearby vineyards ($3.50 for a large) and breathing ocean breeze here.