It feels strangely familiar and comforting to suddenly (and finally!) find myself in summer, speaking yet another language, cooking in a foreign kitchen, digging essentials out of my backpack, testing a new shower, and living where I most definitely don’t—and where I live has yet to be determined these days.

It took us a day to transition from frozen Ottawa to sunny Santiago.

Mind you, we’re not new to Chile. I just had to remember the exchange rate—CLP 2000 is CAD 3—and track down my favourite empanada place in Santiago.

By Friday, we were ready for the classic day trip to Valparaíso, 115 kilometres away, on the Pacific Coast.

Exploring Valparaíso for a day is a hell of a lot easier than staying overnight. It’s a fun but exhausting city—Airbnbs are expensive, it’s hard to get around between the many cerros, and the gritty port-city side of it can be overwhelming. Plus, it’s always chilly at night, and I don’t want to be cold again for a while, thank you very much.

These are just a few details your guidebook didn’t warn you about—ask me how I figured it out…

It’s a fascinating destination, though. First, this is your chance to see the Pacific Ocean, giant shipping containers stacked like LEGO blocks, and grey, serious-looking Navy vessels. And then there are the steep hills—42 in total!—well worth the climb for pictures of the view, the many murals, and the colourful houses. If your legs are tired, the 16 historical elevators and funiculars make the trip uphill or downhill less painful.

This time, we took the Ascensor Reina Victoria to reach the top of Cerro Alegre, one of the hills tourists love—very “bobo” (bohemian chic), as the French would say.

And for life beyond the postcard, we explored the flat, narrow strip of land along the coast—the plano. The endless streets, parallel to the shore, are bustling with cars, pedestrians, and sellers of everything just about everywhere—not sure about the raw fish baking under the sun, but we did buy Mark a leather belt.

I didn’t get lost this time. There was no giant fire, and we did have a ticket back to Santiago.

So all in all, a fun and relaxing second day in Chile.