Ah, success! Finally here at Costa Azul…
…where we are greeted by Luka, one of the incredibly friendly and exuberant owners of the place. He and Nina, his wife, are originally from Slovenia, and landed here after traveling around the world for a couple of years. They decided to put down their roots here (at least for a while) and started the B&B 2 years ago. It is a wonderful place – a cross between a B&B and a hostel – there is a community kitchen where you can cook for yourself if you’d like, but they serve breakfast (included with your room cost) and will also cook dinner for you at extra charge.
Luka shows us to our room – with the best view in the place – and definitely that is true. We are perched up above the city looking over the bay, and it is an astonishingly beautiful view.
We get settled (basically throw our stuff in the corner) and head back downstairs for Luka’s introduction to Valpo. He is great – showing us all the highlights, explaining the buses and the collectivos (shared taxis) and giving us restaurant suggestions.
We are located in the residential section, a far piece (but easy access by bus) from the main city and tourist areas. It’s great up here, quiet and relaxing. We get our bearings and head out to the grocery store to stock up our supplies. It’s just 2 blocks down hill from the B&B – but oh those hills! We’re talking steep. And dangerous. Dangerously populated with Canine land mines. Apparently there is this feral dog thing going on here. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of dogs all over the city. Just roaming free. And doing their business where ever they please – which tends to be on the side walks. So, you must always keep you head down to watch where you walk – makes it hard to watch the stunning views around you – but in the end is better than the alternative!
Surprisingly, the dogs themselves are all very sweet. They might come up to you, but not aggressively. They tend to just watch you go by, or follow you along making friends. It’s like the cats on Hydra – to some degree! So, we navigate the dog gauntlet down to the store, pick up cheese and chorizo and crackers for snacks, plus our beer and wine, and slog back up the steep hills (steep!!!) to the B&B to deposit our stockpile in the fridge.
After a little rest and wonderfully refreshing shower, we decide to head into town for dinner at Puerto Viejo, a recommended seafood restaurant. We take the 505 bus, which stops within feet of the hotel door. It’s only 59 cents each, and we can ride in one direction for as long as we want. Awesome! The 505 isn’t the most direct, but it eliminates walking back up the hill, so we hang on tight as the little bus goes careening around hills, curves and various other traffic hazards to finally deliver us into the downtown area proper.
We hop off at Sotomayor plaza, one of the main squares of the city, 
where they have cordoned off most of the square and have a large stage and grandstands at one end. The statue at the other end of the plaza is a good photo opp – so we take advantage of the lighting and snap a few pix. Then we wander through the streets of downtown, looking for the Puerto Viejo restaurant.
Turns out it’s not too far away, just a couple of blocks, and we settle into a table in the large restaurant space, which is not overly inviting – just tables, in a large space with windows. But the food is supposed to be very good – and the seafood offerings are plentiful and well priced.
Luka has told us about Merluza, the local fish, so we are really interested in trying it. They have Merluza as a starter for $6 US – we try that, as well as Ceviche for $10. The waiter kept telling me the Merluza was small, just a little fish – but he was just trying to upsell me, because the plate is huge – plus I get a side of fries that could sink a battle ship! And the ceviche is huge as well, and incredible. Some of the best ceviche we’ve ever had. I’d eat this alone and forget the rest! It’s enough food for the both of us…and we still have an entree to share! Oy!
The entree was a challenge in and of itself! We were asking questions in our pigeon Spanish, and the waiter spoke decent English, but some of the seafood just didn’t translate. So he goes and gets his phone ! What ever would we do without our cell phones! He promptly loads the restaurant web site (facebook) and shows us all the dishes! Too funny. So, we reviewed everything and finally decided on Chorrillana Marisco. I don’t think we even saw the picture! But it turns out it is an assortment of seafood overtop a towering mound of french fries (oh we are in carb hell tonight – and we weren’t event trying to be bad!).
Ed makes the most of this. I’m picking on the fries, and a couple of shrimps, but he likes all those mussel and clam type things, so he is enjoying himself. I’m just happy with the wine and the fries!
After an enjoyable meal, we make our way back to the street to catch the 505. Luka had told us we could just flag the bus down anywhere. Turns out not to be so accurate. You sort of have to be near a designated bus stop to flag them down – as we found out when the 505 flies past us as we are waiving frantically at the driver. Okie dokie…where’s the bus stop? We find a designated stop a block and a half up the street and have much better luck with the next bus. 800 pesos later and we are in our seats for the ride up into the hills. And oh my God, what a ride it is. On the way down, we laughed about the wild ride. On the way up? Holy cow –it’s Mr. Toad’s wild ride combined with the Wild Mouse roller coaster – without rails! These guys are nuts. They go flying around corners, defying gravity, squealing up the narrow roads, sometimes stopping for fares, sometimes not. We are just laughing and giggling the whole way – while holding on for dear life! Too fun!
We make it back to the B&B in one piece (a feat in itself), hang out for a while in the dining room taking to Fabian about traveling and his return to Sweden in a few months, then bid everyone good evening and settle down in our room to watch the sunset and the lights across the bay of Valparaiso.
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