Cafe Cinzano. This tango club is the Buena Vista Social Club of Valparaiso: men in their 70s, in dapper suits, singing and playing tango with giant smiles on their faces. This is probably the oldest watering hole still operating in Valpo; one book I read said sailors and crooners have been coming here since 1896. A few tourists shared the cramped floor with us, but mostly I saw locals. The food was just average, but the pisco sours and the ambience were exceptional! Definitely the best nightlife experience we had on this trip.
Unfortunately we forgot to bring a camera, so no pictures. But there are some pictures of the gentlemen and the club on our B&B's website, The Yellow House .
Street Art
The televisions were in someone's front yard, and the writing says "Apaga la tele, vive tu vida", which translates "Turn off the TV, live your life." A belief I heartily embrace, hence, it warranted a picture.
These guys were painted on a door, at the end of an alley. It made me do a double-take!
Artic doggies
Definitely what surprised us the most in Valparaiso were the presence (or being so far from the North, the plethora) of malamutes and huskies that roamed Valpo's streets homeless. Here's a little guy who saw Audie's beard and ancestral memories of Alaska were awakened. The two were engaged in a good howling session as I snapped this pic. The only explanation we can think of? Back to the goldminers again, the Klondike refugees, who brought their goldpanning companions on the boats with them. The dogs either got off the ships when the miners decided to stay put in Chile, or were kicked off in Valpo by the captains. Either way, the dogs survived here in this hot, port city. We could have collected ourselves a dog team here. I was tempted to take this guy back to Alaska, but not with the almost two more months of traveling we had to do.
Riotous house paint
It's like this, in every residential neighborhood. Part of the whole pizzazz of the place!
The worst:
Yup, that's dinner!
What is it? It's called chorrillana: a heaping platter of...mostly...french fries, with hot dog chunks and melted cheese mixed in, topped with some fried eggs. This is a Chilean specialty, and now we knew why Chile is never on a world gastronomy tour and why there are no Chilean restaurants outside Chile. You know a dish is bad when I (me, the ex-vegetarian, the health-nut) am diving for the hot dog bites!
Where did we eat it? At the restaurant Mastodonte, named for the white mastodon enshrined on the wall behind me. This is one of the most popular restaurants in town.
5 comments:
I am totally impressed by the French fries heap!!! :) Though, I am not exactly on a veg diet at the moment, either. My mum's visiting me in Spain and we eat lots of croquetas and chorizo y huevos estrellados. Cholesterol over the top! :)
Somehow, the local lifestyle made me quit my vegetarian habits, too. I hope to go back to them one day, for ideological reasons. Was it the Alaskan cold and need for proteins in that climate that made you leave yours?
Hi Olga....yup, the vegetarian lifestyle slid into the path of oblivion shortly after moving to Alaska. For one thing, where we live is so remote....3 hours to the grocery store, and we only go there every six weeks, so having fresh veggies around is an impossibility for most of the year. I grow a lot of veggies in the greenhouse during the summer, and we pick fresh berries and mushrooms (you know all about this from Russia!), but there isn't enough for full vegetarian meals all the time.
Plus, Audie loves meat!
So, I"ve compromised. I"m still mostly vegetarian, except when I'm diving for weenie bits in Chile :)
Haha - that look on your face in that last picture must have been after you took a look at that plate of food! That residential picture is certainly pure charm, and nice to see Audie found a friend there!
HOw disgusting! I would have run away without paying for that. Chorrillana is not a typical chilean dish, it's only served in Valparaíso, and only on popular spots. It was originally french fries, onions, meat and egg. They have kept adding ingredients!. Chilean food is basically sea food, great king crabs, lobsters, oyster and others. I`m sure you went to the wrong place.
Interesting....I didn't know it was just a Valparaiso dish. It was certainly disgusting!....I should say we also tried lots of Chilean seafood, which was always fabulous!
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