Vamos a Valparaiso

Valparaiso is a must see city in Chile. Most travellers we've met actually preferred it to Santiago. I'm not gonna agree with this, as I think the two cities have got a lot of different things to offer.

Valparaiso is a UNESCO protected site. What makes the Chilean metropole so special is all its graffiti art work. They cover almost every wall in the city.

We went on a graffiti tour which was a great way to discover the best street art valparaiso had to offer. We also got some insight on who the artists were and the graffiti's background stories. Like most tours, this one is completely free and relies on tip only. I highly recommend doing it if you are into the street art movement. If not, you can also opt for a city tour which will take you through the colourful streets of 'Valpo', including one of Pablo Neruda's home.

The nightlife here is pretty good as well. There's a few live bands venue and plenty of hot dogs shop to satisfy a drunker's appetite! On our first night, we met a reggae band from Argentina at one of those fast food chains and ended up checking them out live the night after. One of the bars was called the playa, it's a late night venue with live music in the basement and a dance floor on the main level. It's the ideal place to go if you're looking at doing serious booty shakin'. Otherwise you can go try some berries flavoured Mojitos at Cassot bar.

Gato en la venta

Katy and the graffiti... This wall belongs to a local hostel and when we stopped in front of it whilst on our graffit tour, a woman came out and told our guide to tell his fellow artist friends that they didn't have her authorization to paint the wall. Supposabely the artwork has been there for three years so her threat seemed a bit 'delayed'... I also personnaly think it looks great!