Valparaiso- Home of Quality Graffiti and Friendly K-9's

We spent four days in Valparaiso, the port city just west of Santiago that's famous for it's bohemian vibe, meandering hills and funky street art. The buildings are covered in graffiti murals done by the plethora  local artists that inhabit Chile's cultural capital. We stayed in a hostel with a trapeze in the dining room, ate giant burgers and wandered the hills followed by a pair of stray (but friendly) dogs. We made an attempt to visit the beach in a nearby town, but a marine fog layer left us shivering on the sand. It was lovely to spend four straight nights in the same room, without having to pack/unpack and get on a bus which has been our routine every day or two thus far.

Lunch time! Big enough to feed two guys and cost about $7.

Our friend Justin from California hanging out on the trapeze in the hostel.

Two stray dogs that randomly took a liking to us and followed us all around the city. The one on the left was very protective and would growl at strangers, other dogs and cars that got close to us. It was a little embarrassing at times, but we couldn't lose them. Every time we went in a store or restaurant they'd sit and wait outside, they even waited about an hour outside a museum for us. At the end of the day we bought a hand full of dried dog food and set it on the ground for them, but they left it to try and follow us into our hostel. Loyal to a fault.

Another street pup. We were sitting a park and this one just walked up, flopped down and snuggled up.

Next up- the big city of Santiago.