The Good the Bad and the Freaky side of Valpo

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Valparaiso is where Chile hides it's skeletons. If you are a hippie, a rebel, an artist, or a hobo you probably live in Valpo. If you are a law abiding Chilean you probably just visit on the weekends or during the cultural festival. The music, the people, the gritty scenery, it all adds to Valpos charm and intrigue. We came for the cultural parade and I was expecting to be disappointed, since parades never seem to come through way they should. This parade was full music, costumes and performers who were letting their freak flags fly.
But in reality the city of Valparaiso is always performing. Here the cultural festival is day where the city's occupants put on a show for visitors. In Valparaiso, there is a cultural parade everyday. It is a port city and it lives up to the stereotype. It is full of colorful characters with more than a few stories to tell, and plenty of people looking to trade goods, if you know what I mean. It is Chile's dirty little cultural secret. The home of Pablo Neruda's house and tons of other artists, poets, writers, and people who refuse to behave the way they should. Even a dictator could not scare this city into submission and it's residents seems proud of that. They are the Chileans who refuse to conform and refuse to be proper. This this the city where you hold your bag a little tighter and give everyone who crosses your path the once over. In reality that is what real South America is about, being a little scared, a little bit cautious, but being completely fascinated by people dancing and living vivaciously right in front of your eyes. Valparaiso is the dirty, dangerous, beatnik, boho town that never seems to care what the rest of the country is doing.