There's no such thing as leaving again for a long trip. My European break is over, and Antoinette and I have finally boarded a plane together. Two actually, since most flights to south-America are leaving from Madrid. After a long but quite comfortable night on board, I opened my eyes as the sun was reddening the sky to catch my first glimpse of the continent: the white summits of the Andes on the horizon. Quite a magical moment.
The least I can say is that any European can feel right at home in Santiago. It took us all but 5 minutes to find our marks in this city. Efficient metro, lots of traffic, and busy commercial streets, we could be anywhere in the Iberic peninsula. But maybe that's the kind of slow start we needed after such a pause. A good museum (Arte Pre-Colombino) later, we were aboard our first bus toward a city that would finally take us to South America: Valparaiso. Dropped in the middle of another strike blocking the main avenue, we do not take the time to enjoy the surrounding, which is magical. Like amphitheater's spectators, Valparaiso's colored houses climb the surrounding hills. The grid pattern of the streets is respected as much as possible until some streets transform into stairs. Another way to climb the city's hills are the old wooden ascencores. From the late 18th-early 19th century, those relics are worth the detour by themselves, and a trip in one of them is definitely a must. There's nothing like a good coffee on a terrasse, watching the sunset over the harbor.
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