Tuesday 31st January- A tale of two Cities

We had to be out of the cabin by 0800 and so we had an early breakfast and then headed to the lounge to wait to be called for disembarkation.

For those of you who read our Blog about the disembarkation process of our NCL cruise to New York this was like chalk and cheese and so very well organised. We were due to disembark at 09.30 but already at 09.15 they called our baggage tag colour and so off we went and ten minutes later after customs and immigration we were ready to leave the Port about twenty minutes earlier than I had ordered the taxi to meet us.

The view from our Hotel

The taxi driver turned out to be a young French lad of around 30 who had lived in Valparaiso for several years and found a job running his own Tour company offering tours of all types. We arrived at the Hotel early and were lucky to get a room but it became clear that today the Hotel is very quiet. The Hotel is called

Boutique Hotel Acontraluz (www.hotelacontraluz.cl) which had been well recommended by Trip advisor. It certainly was different and quite lovely with an old world charm but amazing views over Valparaiso.

Almost British

We decided to ask Vivien, who hailed from Bordeaux, to give us a tour of Valparaiso and then to visit Vino Del Mar (the new part of town) and so he picked us up at about one pm  and off we went visiting lots of lovely places and some very old buildings some of which have a very strong British influence. The famous people in Chile are really not from here but two very important people who have statues and roads and squares named after them are a Mr O’Higgins and a certain Mr Pratt. After listening to the exploits of Mr Pratt we begin to think that’s where the expression came from’ a right Pratt’

After touring the town for about three hours he then took us to the new part of town called Vino del Mar and it is just like Benidorm or similar Spanish coastal towns where the tourist’s and holidaymakers in their masses visit and it’s got a McDonalds, a Starbucks and several other food chains and its where the Sheraton and several other international Hotels are, and there is a large Hyatt being built on the beach front. We did not like it all and after the drive through the town we did a drive back along the coastal road with is packed beaches and bars where you can rent tandems and horse drawn taxis, bloody awful place we thought although Vivian said that after the 1^st of March when the holiday period is over this whole area becomes quite deserted.

See what I mean-Benidorm

After a quick shower and change we went to dinner where Vivien had a friend who owned the place but quite frankly it was a bit of disaster. The restaurant had great views of the Valparaiso Container Yard, lots of Hapag Lloyds and Hamburg-Sud containers, and of course the port and also two funicular trams going up and down with paintings of the Madonna (without the boobs) on one and an religious painting on the other, as they are quite some years old perhaps the paintings add to the security?

The food was supposed to be seafood but the waitress did not have a clue how to serve and at the next table filled a wine glass for the guy to taste right to the brim of the glass, a bit like water. He looked quite dismayed but no doubt thought that as he had only ordered a single glass he did quite well.

Vivien apologised for the screw up and we were also disappointed but also after having such excellent food on board for the past two weeks we felt very let down. Watch out for a future Trip Advisor review.

The back to the Hotel and we hoped to sleep well with a bed that not moving and no air-conditioning noise.

Quite a day really, but most enjoyable apart from the restaurant visit.