unplanned trip through chile

This is the most unplanned trip thus far. By unplanned I mean, all I have is the flight, and the only reason I have the flight is because it was $30 and I needed to be out of Argentina when my visa expired. 

Once we arrived in Santiago, Chile at 2 AM we didn’t know what to do or where to go. We picked the first hostel we found and ubered directly there, only to find out it was no longer in business and we just showed up at someone's house. We eventually found a hostel that would accept us in the middle of the night and slept for a few hours. When we woke up in the morning we walked down the long park that ran all the way to the city center. The park was lined with orange trees and ran along the river next to the main road. We were surprised to see that Santiago had a lot to offer. We walked around the city center and went into all the free museums. There was a surprising amount of free museums which was nice because we have no money to our names. The town square was so cute, lined with palm trees, and historic buildings. I have gone into historic cathedrals in every town we’ve been in thus far, but Santiago’s cathedral was the most grand. It was massive, and displayed the most intricate details. After standing in awe in the cathedral, we went to the Bellas Artes National Museum which was hosted in the cutest venue with an ironic, glass ceiling. There were multiple exhibits here of all kinds of different art, from modern to contemporary to sculptures and anything in between. The best part of the museum is the two statues of women that seemingly balance the entire building. After the museum we went to the castle in the park that is turned into a modern restaurant in the back. We had tea time and watched the sunset from the terrace. We decided to buy tickets to bus to Valparaiso, the coastal town two hours away. We packed up our book bags and headed to the bus station. 

We arrived in Valparaiso pretty late and then looked for a hostel when we got there. Continuing on the trend of having nothing planned. In the morning we started on our adventures, and by adventures I mean wandering around the town and getting aggressively cat called every block. Valparaiso is known for their wild and colorful street art that runs along every single building, home, road, and restaurant. The entire town is painted in bright colors and very impressive murals vandalized by spray paint. We had amazing chai tea ta Maria Maria and walked along the fun steps.

During our wandering, we ran into an older man who approached us, asking to speak English with us. We stood in front of what we learned was his home for an hour, just talking about life. His house was a beautiful shade of pink and stood out amongst all the other houses on the street. The cobblestone road down from his house led to a viewpoint of the ocean. We invited him to coffee and spent another few hours with him. We practice spanish while he practiced English, he told us about the political climate of Chile, and his dreams in life. He was precious. The most memorable part about traveling for me is the people I am meeting. Every stop it's a new person with a new story and I love listening to them and sharing thoughts over coffee. 

This is the old man we spoke to for hours who taught us about life and love.

We left coffee and walked to the art museum, the sun was setting and we had the perfect view of the ocean. The sun made the tall buildings in Vina Del Mar glisten and shine across the bay to Valparaiso. After wandering the art museum we got sushi and wine and then went back to get ready for the clubs. We decided that since we haven’t been going out, we should club our last night of the trip to end on a high note. 

We found a party hostel to pregame at and then went to the club. They played fantastic music and me and Annika danced all night long before catching the bus to the airport the next morning. 

When I look back at this trip I don't remember the sights we saw or count the times we were cat called but rather I remember how important it is to learn from locals. We spent all day with an old man learning about his life, his hardships, his victories. He also shared the political and economic spectrum of the country he loves so deeply. This is what experiences are made of, listening to a stranger and opening your heart to them.