Molly and I spent the weekend in Valparaíso, which will stand as one of the most unique places that I have ever been to. We got there by bus (about a 2 hour drive from Santiago for approx. $6 US each) and once we reached the crest of the cliffs looking down on the multi-colored houses dotting the landscape over the Pacific, the excitement set in.
Walking around the city feels like a living art gallery, not just for the picturesque landscape surrounding you at all times, but the literal art covering numerous buildings throughout the city. Chile’s street art has been a particular interest of mine since arriving here and Valparaíso’s art really took my respect to a whole new level. The city exists as a postmodern canvas for people’s art and it looks as though (for the most part) that the local government has complied in letting artists paint throughout the streets without issue, but rather with encouragement. The result to some may seem dirty, unorganized, cluttered, and/or a byproduct of youth rebellion, but this ‘graffiti’ is an instance of true art to me, expressing real feelings of an artist’s view of the world in an exciting, open way. It connects you to the art in a way that a canvas simply can’t – it’s out in the open, it’s part of a building, part of the landscape, it’s simply there as a part of the whole experience of a place. It also reflects a certain feeling of a new place – the way you know that something is happening culturally that you just do not know, but want to dig deeper. The answer comes in meeting people, talking to people, and learning what makes them proud of the place in which they live.
We happened to be walking in the Cerro Bellavista district of Valparaíso to look at the street art when we passed a street corner where a bunch of young Chileans (I say young because they were more close to Molly’s age than mine…) were singing and playing guitar. Molly and I both stopped to watch without realizing it, and the people called us over to join them and we couldn’t refuse. There was just something so nice, so free, and so laid-back about them that was so inviting beyond them just calling us to come hang out with them. There were about seven people there and only one knew a bit of English, so we were once again in a situation of Molly translating for me. Molly unintentionally let them know that she sings and that I play guitar back in the US, so they made us play a few songs (always followed by “Más! Más” for more songs), to which people leaning out the windows in the apartments above were watching and clapping along. It was a great experience, to say the least. I’ll take meeting people like these over seeing the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower any day. It was a welcoming feeling like no other and they seemed to greatly appreciate our music, albeit mostly for Molly’s voice I’m almost positive...
We had to leave because we had plans to see some Bossa Nova music at a café in another part of the city (Cerro Concepcion) by the recommendation of a nice Frenchman living in Valparaíso named Guillaume. That, too, was a wonderful experience in a truly unique café called Café Color, and Guillaume showed up near the end with his Chilean wife after his day of selling antiques on the sidewalk (where we had met him) and working a shift at another local café. It got late, we said our goodbyes, expressed our gratitude to the (wonderful) musicians, and made our trek home down the hills toward our hostel.
This is just a fraction of our experience in Valparaíso, but I suppose the point I would like to drive home about what was so extraordinary about this city beyond its incredible landscape and its numerous public artwork(s) is the type of people that the town either attracts or creates in its culture. We had a tiny sampling of this, but we could see it all around us in the numerous cafes, shops, and bars that we either went to or slowly walked by, but what remains prescient in my memory about this trip was the experience of an all-encompassing feeling that a new place offered. That feeling comes as a product of the city’s culture mixed with the traveler appreciating it through the right kind of eyes. It’s the feeling that you want ‘home’ to offer no matter where it is, and it’s through experiences like this in a place proud of its cultural distinctiveness that you cannot shake from your memory once you return home. I have a feeling we’ll be back soon, Valparaíso.
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