Viña del Mar and Valparaíso

Well, I just got back from a very relaxing weekend in Viña del Mar and Valparaíso! We took a bus to Viña after class on Friday (about two hours away) and quickly found our apartment - it was huge! It was bigger than the apartment that Melissa lives in in Santiago. It was two stories, and had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. And suprisingly, it was cheaper than having a hotel room at the cheapest hotel. Friday night we did a little grocery shopping so that we could have toilet paper, snacks, etc... Then we got settled in our apartment and went out to eat. I tried some sort of shrimp dish that I didn't like very much, but the potatoes and bread that came with it were yummy!

Saturday, we went to Valparaíso via metro. We started out at the Prat Dock, where we were catcalled by sailors, and got our first view of the Pacific Ocean. We looked at some of the shops, and also saw the Chilean Navel Building (we took pictures with the guards!) Then we moved on to the Ascensor Concepción, which is a very very old elevator that takes you up to a breathtaking view of the city and the ocean. It's not like an elevator from a building - more like the weird outdoor elevators that are in the caves at Silver Dollar City. It's kind of hard to explain! Then, we went to Pablo Neruda's house, which was beautiful and interesting, and had the best view of the city that we had yet seen. The house had some interesting archetecture - it would have been fun to live there! It was weird that the bathrooms were also on display... I was thinking to myself ''Wow! Pablo probably pooped in here!'' Pablo Neruda is a fabulous Chilean poet who won the Nobel Prize for literature. We studied him in my Latin American Lit class this Spring. Then we walked down pretty much an entire mountain, and rewarded ourselves with lunch in a plaza. Then, we walked around and did some exploring and shopping (didn't actually buy anything, but there were a lot of open markets). After a long, fun day, we took the metro back with the intention of taking a siesta when we got back. However, we saw a beautiful park on our way back, and spent an hour or two walking around, taking weird pictures, and hiking a bit. We ended up on the other side of a the huge hillish mountain thing with a security guard wondering what we were doing. Serves us right for exploring, eh? We ended up finding our way back, then swiftly went to our apartment to take a well-earned siesta. Then, we went out for dinner and hung out talking for a long time.

Today, we slept in and explored Viña a bit. We went to the celebrated Avenida de Peru, which is the beachside street that has a beautiful view of the Pacific. Very pretty! We did some shopping in a market, and then ate lunch at an Italian Restraunt. Then, went back to the apartment, cleaned it up, and headed to the bus station for our two hour drive back to Santiago. Fun Stuff!

Here are some interesting experiences we had:

1. Public Restrooms: Apparently, it is quite common to have to pay to use a restroom. We did this a couple of times at the bus station - I guess it's better than having a stinky, yucky bathroom with no TP.

2. American Photo Shoot: While Melissa and I are getting used to being goggled at in the streets (we often have people stop walking and physically turn around to stare at us), we were suprised on Saturday to realize that we were, indeed, the subjects of a tourist's photo. We saw them aiming the camera, so we moved away thinking we were in their way - but the camera followed us! Interesting...

3. Juggling Traffic: People try to make money doing almost anything in the streets here. However, we thought that juggling in front of cars at a stop light was one of the more interesting strategies we have yet seen.

4. Restraunt Madness: I love trying new foods, but sometimes when I'm really hungry, I just order something that I am familiar with and am sure I will like. It's nice to know what to expect....However, it seems like every time I ordered something familiar, it ended up not quite the same. For example, piña coladas here are basically a coconut and rum soup without ice or any pineapple flavoring. I couldn't even handle a few sips. Also, fetticine alfredo comes with sliced up ham in the sauce. Pizza is completely unrecognizable - it looks like bread with entire ham slices, tomato slices, etc... and melted slices of cheese, covered with melted butter. Interesting... I even ordered a tortilla española, which was prepared differently than I expected. Most of the food didn't taste bad, it was just a different twiste on what I was used to!

5. Expiration Dates: Whenever Melissa and I ordered any type of bottled soda or water (comes in glass instead of plastic) in restraunts or street vendors, they are usually past their expiration dates. Never more than a month or two, but still...very strange!

6. Unidentified Swimming Object: While gazing out at the Pacific Ocean, Melissa and I saw a USO, which we are guessing was probably a seal or dolphin - although it was all alone, so maybe not?