Love this photo of the mixture of old & new. The glass cube building, which to me look like a tiny version of the Barclay's tower in Canary Wharf, was built by an American shipping company on top of it's 19th century office in 2001. The company initially sought plannng permission in 1998 & were told to get lost. They went back & told the city planners that in that case they were shutting up shop & moving to another port 100km away. Permission was...

This amazing house was owned & decorated by a wealthy Italian family. If you look closely you can see the beautiful wood & stone carving. Sadly with the opening of the Panama canal, Valparaiso's fortunes declined & have so continued up to today. Therefore these magnificent buildings are left to rot & decay. Valparaiso is without doubt a city of faded glamour.

Escaleras Cienfuegos...164 steps of pain. Once beautiful but like so much of the city, now neglected & covered in dog muck!

So...Mr Prat!! Beloved of Chileans everywhere despite unfortunate name. In the early stages of the war between Chile & the joint forces of Bolivia & Peru (btw both claimed the other side started it!) Captain Pratt leapt onto a Peruvian ship & attempted to overrun it single handedly. He was, of course, killed & therefore unsuccessful. However his bravery became legendary & encouraged Chileans to join up to the forces as conscription was volunt...

Oh almost forgot...today encountered my first bus dilemma which will bore you all with. Soooo usually we have a rough plan of our travels but in Chile we have to be more organised as just so darn expensive. Last night we planned our trip for next few days including buses & hostels. All was going swimmingly until we got to Valparaiso bus station & tried to buy tickets onward to La Serena. All buses were full!!! This has never happened before. Twice ther...