valparaiso and a shameful confession

hola todos y todas,
so, this weekend i went to a town called valparaiso, about 2 hours south of santiago, and then briefly to a neighboring town called vina del mar. valparaiso, where we were the majority of the time, is really quite enchanting. it's a very artistic, bohemian town built up on a hill with seemingly no logical organization whatsoever. the grafitti is breathtakingly beautiful and political, as is all grafitti in south america, it seems. i also had the opportunity to see one of the houses of pablo neruda (i quoted a couple entries back) while in valpo, and it was really incredible: 5 floors, each only a room or two, so that every room had a window, which looks over the amazing harbor. there are pictures below. that night we went dancing and stayed in a great hostel, and on sunday we explored vina, a touristy but beautiful beach town briefly, but came home early due to exhaustion. overall it was a great weekend and im sure we'll be back to visit when we get back from traveling in the south during february, which we're starting to plan now and i am very excited about. and the shameful confession? i've already purchased a fanny pack. they are really popular here, especially in santiago, since it's much harder to steal from. and, i decided to try this culture on for size. so, you'll see the proof in the pictures. but don't worry, it's a kick ass fanny. so, the pictures are as follows:
-the garden/patio outside my house in santiago. delightful.
-a park by my house.
-my friend nikki and i on our way to valpo.
-pablo nerudas house. doesnt seem like much, but it's a work of art.
-the view from nerudas house. how could he not be inspired?
-another view of valpo. really amazing.
-the "fanny" pack, if you will.
-a shot of valpo. it's not very good, so i'll try to get one from someone else to post, that shows a little more the (lack of) organization of the city.

chao.