Viña to Valpo: Hostel Drama & Magical Old Houses

January 6, 2011 (Part I)

If you've ever stayed in a hostel, you know that they're not the most private accommodations availalble. And although we had private rooms at Hostal Reloj de Flores B&B (as opposed to communal bunks shared with 5-10 people you've never met before), we weren't immune the hostel lifestyle. Case in point: the only window in the room opened up to the main living area. Which is why I wasn't too surprised when I awoke the next morning to the voices of my fellow travelers having breakfast in the kitchen. On the bright side, the blazing hot temperatures from the day before had cooled to the point that I was able to sleep cozily under a heavy wool blanket. AND, by some miracle, the wireless internet was now functioning at lightning speed and I was able to  lazily check my e-mail from my smart phone while laying in bed. After being threatened by the fact that breakfast was ending in 10 minutes, I finally rolled out of bed and joined my chatty hostel-mates (young Brazilians and Argentinians)  in the kitchen for breakfast. 

View from our room at Hostal Reloj de Flores in Vina del Mar

Soon after breakfast we were loading our bags back into a taxi en route to the neighboring city of Valparaíso ("Valpo", for short). As we informed the taxi driver of our destination - a small B&B atop one of the city cerros (hills) - we were dismayed to learn that he wasn't familiar with the location. And as we began to climb the hills of Valparaíso, it was easy to see why - the streets twisted up the hillside like a vine; often changing name or dead-ending into a stairwell unexpectedly. But with the help of our trusty guide book, we 
arrived at the specified address in less than 20 minutes.

Winding Streets of  Valparaíso 

Climbing out of the taxi, our hotel - Hotel Casa Thomas Somerscales - was barely distinguishable among the other houses in the neighborhood of  Cerro Alegre  (literally, "Happy Hill"). A boutique hotel with only about 10 rooms, it was actually an old restored mansion transformed into a guest house. As the hotel staff  buzzed us into the gate from the sidewalk, we were immediately impressed with the magnificient facade and beautifuly maintained garden terrace, but daunted by the ~20 stairs we were faced with climbing to arrive at the front door. It was clear that this was going to be a magical place to stay - not unsimilar to the house portrayed in Isabel Allende's most famous book, The House of Spirits  (and my first introduction to Chile).

Entrance Gate from Street - Hotel Thomas Somerscales

Terrace of Hotel Thomas Somerscales

The  lavishly decorated foyer was even more impressive - decked out in period furniture appropriate to the age of the house (likely early 1900's since the Earthquake of 1906 destroyed most of the buildings in town). And even though we had arrived before check-in,  we were pleasantly surpised to learn that our rooms were indeed ready and so we settled into our rooms before setting out to find lunch. 

Foyer of Hotel Thomas Somerscales

   

Santiago to Viña del Mar By Bus

January 5, 2011

Finally, a day to sleep in - well, sorta. After waking up so early the past few days, sleeping in until 10: 00 A.M. felt very luxurious. It took the troops a while to get coordinated and since there was no scheduled activity for the day, the 10: 00 A.M. departure time got pushed back nearly an hour.

By 11:00 A.M. we were piled in a taxi, breezing through the tree-lined streets of Provedencia, on to the downtown area to the Terminal de Bus Alemeda. The bus station was a bustling scene, bordering on chaotic. I asked the rest of the family to stay put while I navigated my way through the terminal to figure out where to buy our bus tickets. There were about 50 different bus companies, each with a few different ticket windows, and each with buses leaving to popular destinations ever 20 minutes or so. Chaos. Thankfully, I had navigated a similar scene on my previous trip to Chile, which gave me a little more confidence in executing the task of buying tickets this go around. I found the company recommended by our guide book (Tur-Bus) and asked for 4 seats on the next bus to Viña del Mar, which I easily secured. I quickly rounded up the troops and we headed back across the street to platform 5, where our bus was to depart from in fifteen minutes time. A few minutes before the schedule departure time, we boarded the comfortable, air-conditioned tour bus (staffed and run very professionally) and quickly pulled out of the station. Who says everyone is late in Latin America?

We only made one other stop at another bus terminal in the city before continuing on to Viña with a full bus-load of passengers. The two hour trip was actually very relaxing; I spent the time writing and reading about our next destinations, as well as enjoying the beautiful views of the Casablanca Wine Valley.

At 2:00 PM, we pulled into the station at  Viña del Mar and were immediately bombarded by taxi drivers, hotel owners, and tourist guides eager to assist us with any of their services.We bypassed the vendors and made a B line to the taxi stand where a friendly guy took us to Hostal Reloj del Flores B&B.