january 16 - Valparaiso

Spent the day sightseeing.  First, rode the bikes up the hill of Valparaiso.  Think San Francisco but less paved roads and fewer building codes.  Next we rode the 10km to Vina Del mar and walked around the beach area, stopping for a coffee and watching the horse drawn carriages pass by.

After a short time in Vina, we decided to head back to Valparaiso and check out more of the sights there.  With a richer and longer history, Valparaiso has some amazing Architecture.  We spent the entire day wandering the streets, taking photos and enjoying the culture.  At one point, I go to a store and buy a cheap package of hot dogs, feeding some of the street dogs as i go by. 

   Late afternoon, we started to head back to the hotel, and stopped at a bar on the way for a beer.  sitting outside on the sidewalk seating, we meet 2 Chileans sitting at the table next to us and start a spanglish conversation.  Nice guys, so when we order our next beer, we add one to our tab for them.  Another few minutes goes by and they end up sitting with us.  We have a good 2 hours of conversation with Alex and Luis, both longshoreman in Valparaiso.  when it comes time to say goodbye, we ask for our bar tab and get told it has all been taken care of.  Apparently our new Chilean friends had paid our entire tab.

   After a late dinner, we head back to the hotel.  Al takes a little of his leftovers and finds a grateful dog.  In the morning, we ride about 130 km back to Santiago, where we sell the bikes.