Valparaiso: Funiculars, Fantastic Views, and Freakin' Good Food at Poblenou

Suzuki Shift rental car

After two days of hanging out in Santiago, it was time for Andreas and I to head out of the city. So we scoured the Web for cheap rental cars, and ended up finding a place in the Providencia neighborhood, but when we got there the woman told us that her agency had no cars available. Though luckily on our cab ride to the first rental car agency, we passed a Hertz rental car within walking distance of the first place. The Hertz man not only spoke English, but he hooked us up with a brand new and very cute Suzuki Shift. The cost for two days with the car was a little under $200 USD, which included an electronic toll gadget that paid the tolls within the Santiago city limits. With map in hand and our eyes set on getting to Valparaiso by before sunset, we were off.

My cousin and his wife had recently traveled to Valparaiso and sent back very beautiful pictures, especially views atop the many hills that make up the city. The historic quarter of Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage Site after all. More than anything, I wanted to ride the funicular (or ascensors), a hill-side elevator of sorts. In all, the city has 16 funiculars.

View from the Hotel Brighton terrace in Valparaiso

People often think that parking would be a nightmare in places like Valparaiso, but in fact it was fairly painless. There is ample underground parking throughout the city. We parked in an underground lot in the Puerto district, near Plaza Sotomayor. And for a little more than 5 hours, we paid under $10 USD. From the garage and almost intuitively we found our way to calle Arturo Prat, where we serendipitously found the entrance to the Concepción Funicular. For less than $2 USD, we took the funicular to the top of Cerro Concepción. The views from the top were spectacular. Row after row of colorful architecture inhabited the top of the hill.

Colorful block atop Cerro Concepción in Valparaiso

There is a creative energy present in Valparaiso. We noticed a lot of beautiful graffiti all over the place, as well as cute jewelry stores and other sorts of design shops atop the hill.

Graffiti

Since sunset was just about to occur, we decided to find place to have a drink and lounge while soaking in the view. Luckily we found a lovely restaurant terrace belonging to the Hotel Brighton. The terrace has a fantastic view of the harbor at Valparaiso. We sat down and ordered two pisco sours as part of the restaurant’s happy hour (2 for 1 deal!), which came with olives. The colors of the sky were breathtaking.

Pisco sour and olives

After our drinks, we decided to find dinner. Part of the reason why I was so excited to visit Valparaiso is due to a New York Times article about the city that I read days before (“Tastes of Newly Fashionable Valparaíso, Chile“). The article proclaimed Valparaiso as a foodie haven and featured several restaurants. Andreas and I were very excited to sample one of the recommendations. From the Hotel Brighton we trekked over to calle Urriola to the restaurant Poblenou (476 Urriola), which was featured in the article.

Poblenou entrance

We got there a bit early, 7pm-ish. My friend Alejandro told us the night before that Chileans don’t eat as late as Argentines, so we assumed that the place would fill up shortly thereafter. But for a good 3 hours, Andreas and I were the only people there. But it didn’t matter. All we were concerned with was the food. The restaurant is house in a cute space, with a craftsman/wood aesthetic dominating the interior. The owner, an architect, I read, had designed all the furniture. We enjoyed the fireplace tremendously.

Poblenou interior

Poblenou offers a wide-selection of tapas and wine. We basically ordered the whole menu, and loved each dish as they came to us. The highlights for us was a chicken curry and sushi plate.

Chicken curry tapas dish

Save room for dessert. We ordered the crepes with homemade ice-cream and jam.

Crepe dessert with ice-cream

We ate and drank wine for a good 3 hours. In all, our bill came out to be about $60 USD for the both of us, which we were happy about given all that we ate. By 10pm groups of people started to arrive, but we were thoroughly full and needed to depart to get back to Santiago. We waddled back to our car and said goodbye to Valparaiso.