We finally slept through the night. It felt like when Millie was a baby and started sleeping through the night. I woke up feeling like I could conquer the world.

We didn’t have any food in the Airbnb so Millie and I ventured out to find something to bring back. Every coffee shop and bakery around us opened at 10AM. I don’t understand the hours, do people here not eat in the morning? We found a little cafe that was open and I asked if they had anything for takeaway. The sweet woman ushered us to a side room where there was a table full of homemade cakes. Sign me up. We chose three to have a slice from and then headed home.

Once we were sugared up, we set off. We went to the neighboring town of Viña Del Mar for the day. It’s just 15 minutes down the coast, but feels very different. Valparaiso is very hilly and gritty, and Viña Del Mar felt like South Beach Miami.

We took an Uber so we wouldn’t need to deal with the stress of driving and parking our rental car. We got dropped off at “Artequin”, a kids’ interactive art gallery. We were the only ones there. The whole place felt like it was set up to host field trips. There were large tables for activities, stages for talks, crafting areas without any supplies, etc. We had a fun time but definitely didn’t get the full experience.

From here we walked to the Fonck Museum. This tiny museum holds one of the Moai heads from Easter Island, and is one of the only places in the world (other than the island itself) where you can see one. We had originally had Easter Island on our itinerary for this year but scratched it due to costs and difficulty. This was our consolation.

The inside of the museum had a lot of Rapa Nui and Chilean history and artifacts, and a “natural history” floor of questionable taxidermy.

Millie refused to go in a whole section because she is terrified of skulls and skeletons. As I browsed it on my own, I was glad she sat it out because it had tiny mummified trophy heads. Yikes!

We walked from here to the ocean. On our way we found a playground and Millie made friends with another family. They didn’t speak much English but somehow she still sat for 15 minutes talking to the mom.

We walked up the shore and found some sand that she played in. The waves were huge and unpredictable so she didn’t get too close.

This guy in a full Spider-Man costume, mask and all, napped next to us.

We walked onwards and found a wine bar for an early dinner. I had read that the food here was nothing special, but we’ve had some great meals. We had ceviche, paella, hummus, and ravioli. A slightly random assortment but something for everyone. I have discovered a new-to-me wine that I’m adding to my limited list of “styles I love”: Carménère.

Millie befriended the bartender’s 4-year-old daughter and they ran around the restaurant like they owned the place.

We called an Uber to drive us back to Valparaiso. He had less English than I have Spanish, and we managed to piece together a conversation about Chilean food and the fact that he finds Valparaiso quite dangerous. Luckily we don’t go out past 8pm and are leaving tomorrow.