Valparaíso, Chile

Or how expectations do not match reality when you don't plan appropriately

Hello! I took the week of July 4 off because we were traveling to South America. Look for upcoming information on Santiago de Chile, Bogota, and Panama City. Today, however, is a lesson on how not to travel.

Go look up Valparaíso, Chile, on Instagram or Google. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Did you see something like this?

We had an extra day in Santiago de Chile, and I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, specifically this smaller town with colorful houses. Valparaíso is only an hour and a half from Santiago, Chile, a quick freeway drive to see the countryside and get my ocean fix.

I did only a quick search, hoping to find a seaside restaurant to make my husband happy with fish for lunch, which we do frequently in Türkiye. Five minutes is not enough when you’re in a different country where you’ve never been.

The photo above looks beautiful. As does this one below. Shall I say “photoshop?”

However, I’m sure you’ve seen those beautiful Instagram posts followed by the reality. Here’s mine.

I have never seen a guardrail that looked quite like this. But on the other hand, I’ve seen too many places with no guardrails at all, so…

I made a wrong turn somewhere. None of the areas we found looked like the photos in the Google slideshow, and the roads were only wide enough for 1.5 cars. Climbing the hill proved easy, but coming down was tedious as we all squeezed past one another in the narrow streets, climbing sidewalks when necessary.

For about fifteen minutes, I drove with white knuckles until I almost got us killed. Then, I pulled over and let my husband drive since he has a lifetime of experience with crazy Turkish drivers. And I took more photos.

In Türkiye, we call these homes “geci condos,” or apartments built overnight without permission on government property. It gives those in need somewhere to live other than on the streets. These in Chile are better quality, but living in an area with a significant yearly earthquake count would make me nervous.

We found a square and a tourist market in front of the building for the Chilean Navy near the port.

We also watched the guard change.

Then, after coffee and a breakfast panini, we wandered through the market, which consisted mostly of antiques and hand-made items, such as shawls, hats, ponchos, and other clothing.

Fun fact: Did you know there are Starbucks EVERYWHERE in the world? I have not been on a trip yet where I have not seen multiple Starbucks. In discussing this with my husband, we agreed that our next round of travel would be out of the cities and into the countryside.

And yes, I did get my Pacific Ocean fix for the day. It reminded me of the dramatic coastline around Oregon and northern California. But no, we never found any restaurants near the ocean. This area reminded me of Northern California and Oregon.

So, the pretty part of Valparaíso, how do I find you?