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Bookmark & shareA Top Day in Valparaíso
Every morning Mercardo Cardonal quickly reassembles, like a puzzle somebody memorized long ago. I browse the aisles watching the crates of cauliflower start to stack up and wheelbarrows of lettuce roll in, while stout señoras sweep the puddles and trash from their square of real estate. By the Turri Watchtower I take the ascensor (funicular) up Cerro Concepción. The morning streets are blissfully motionless. You can take photos from the balconies, sit on a bench writing, or watch the containers load in the port and no one, not even the street dogs, will pay you mind. Soon enough, hunger takes me to the nearest trendy cafe on Cerro Alegre, where I can get real, strong coffee and wheat toast. On the way I take a shortcut and inevitably get lost. Valpo's curving alleys and staircases never quite go where you think they will, but they get you there eventually. And usually, that's the most interesting part. Late morning is the perfect time to visit with a friend, and lunch is the natural extension of the encounter. Lunch (a four-course meal at a French restaurant with a little bit of wine) ends mid-afternoon. It's time to nap. An evening stroll shows another face of the cerros (hills). Shops are lit, their curiosities on display from afar. There are worn-out workspaces, studios that stink of paint and linseed oil, a child dribbling his football in a kiosk. Jewelers bend over their work so intently they don't hear my footsteps. I browse in and out of their worlds. Later there will be music. Maybe rock or tango, and the chance to have a dance. But for now it's me on these steep streets with the hills lit up like Christmas.
Author: Carolyn McCarthy
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