The City of Rivers

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I am feeling really inspired in this city. Valdivia is perhaps the nicest place I have been to in this part of the world. I have seen the most incredible wild life and experienced some of the humblest hospitality here. I just don´t want to leave ! Unfortunately, I have to catch a bus to Santiago tonight otherwise I will not leave.

When I arrived here, I was very disappointed. I had met other travellers who couldn´t say enough good things about Valdivia. The city looked like a shanty town from the the bus. I was beginning to feel disillusioned by my guide book which yet again had failed to give a realistic perspective on my choice of destination.This was especially the case after discovering that the taxi driver had no idea where my hostel was and had successfully managed to take advantage of the fact that I had no idea where I was going or the value of Chilean money.

I was so touched by the smiling faces and the enthusiasm of the people that a lump started to form in my throat..

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I had however, spoken too soon. I arrived at Hostel Central and I was greeted with a slobbery lick from the resident dog, Olga. I got her attention even more when I went outside to eat a steak sandwich and I was shocked to find a bunny jumping into my lap to nibble the salad on my plate. The bunny thinks she´s a dog by the way, and she is called Ramona. She likes to be the centre of attention.

I loved the hostel immediately. It felt like I was at a friend´s house and that was the aim of the owner. It is very intimate and I was over joyed by the fact that it was so clean. I met a handful of other travellers who I spent most of my time with and the owners, especially Tomas, a crazy Argentian self - professed sburrone ( not sure how to translate ) are all too happy to help you paint the town red. I did a lot of that whilst here and naturally ended up cooking pasta for the whole hostel. I really miss my mum´s cooking and a clean kitchen.... One of the owners was sooooo sweet ! He lived in Rome for six months and was obsessed with Italian Films. I woke up one morning to the familiar smell of Italian coffee. Obviously, I ran down stairs to discover that the owner had bought a huge Italian coffee maker for me! You have to understand that the coffee here is bad. I was so happy to taste something that reminded me so much of home. This is why loved this hostel: it was so familiar.

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One thing that is essential to visit here is the fish market. This is next to a river in the city. You may be thinking, ´great, a smelly fish market´, but it is famous for the wild sea lions that swim up to the fish sellers for scraps of fish. I had never seen anything like it before and it is a spectacle in itself. I stayed for about an hour, fascinated by them. The market itself sells every kind of fish imaginable, a lot of which I hadn´t even heard of. It is all very fresh and very cheap.

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I also visited the university which is famous in Chile. It has a huge botanical garden which was a nice escape on an unusually hot day. The centre is full of colonial architecture and it has a pleasant square with a Victorian style band stand. It´s all very quaint.

Valdivia is about twenty minutes away from the coast of the Pacific. Given how hot is was on Saturday, I had to go to the beach, Niebla. It wasn´t the prettiest beach but it was bizarre to be at the beach in February and it was the first time I have seen the Pacific. The water by the way is ice cold , it is so cold it hurts your feet.

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Yesterday, I took a very touristy trip on a train built in the 19th Century. The train ride itself was nothing special. A train is a train in my eyes. I only went because it was raining and because the crazy Sburrone persuaded me to go with him and some other guys from the hostel. What was surreal were the crowds that assembled along the train track to romantically waive white hankies at you. I felt strangely like I had leapt into the police box in Doctor Who. I was so touched by the smiling faces and the enthusiasm of the people that a lump started to form in my throat.... that was until a little kind stuck his finger up at the train which threw everyone into hysterics. I have to admit, it was hilarious!

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We ended up in a typical Mapuche village. This for me was fascinating as I have never seen such beautiful little wooden houses before. You will see what I mean by the photos. Everything about it was antiquated and it felt as if the whole of Chile had moved on without it.

One last tip, if you are looking for a great place to eat in Valdivia, go to the market. You can buy every type of fried fish for about a thousand pesos. That´s about a pound. I didn´t see any tourists there , only locals and students. Hmmmm I was in heaven. All I can say is that this place deserves a lot longer than 4 days.

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Please visit my fundraising page at www.justgiving.com.ciccia.