BrianandJean

La Serena: This very livable city sits at the mouth of the Rio Elqui. There are two parts of La Serena, the glitzy modern brassy coast lined with apartment hotels and cabans along the Ave de Mar and the city centre which is a very attractive place full of colonial style houses, lots of churches and hidden squares and alleyways with huge palm trees overlooking it all. It is Chile's 2nd oldest city but it was not until the 19th century when pirate attached were no longer the major threat and silver was discoverted nearby that it really took off. As usual once the silver was found teh mining magnates had to compete to see who could build the most ostentation mansion. We walked for miles today around this fascinating city including the modern mall which ... read more

After we left Pisco elqui we drove back through the valley. We stopped at Montegrande to visit the church and statue of Gabriele Mistral. After than we visited the town of Vicuna. it was a lovely small town very vibrant. The towns here are in direct contrast with the same area of Argentina. There things are poor and the infrastructure is falling apart. It is sad to see what once was and now into Chile we can see what can be. The valleys are irrigated and the country is growing a havest of fruits and vegetables. The small towns are vibrant and full of life and the houses and people look so much better. The infrastructure is being rebuilt and road works were in progress everywhere. We drove down the valley and stayed the night at ... read more

San Juan lies to the north of Mendosa and like Mendosa was created out of desert by the hard work of the immigrants from Italy, Spain and Chile and of course many other places. It is no small thing to make the desert bloom and to produce such world class wines. Its other claim to fame is that it where Juan Domingo Peron came to public notice for his efforts after a disasterous earthquake in 1944. We did not find any statues to him but one to his wife Evita herself is tucked away in a small park off the main drag. Having seen her grave in Buenos Aires it was nice to see her remembered here in San Juan. Apart from that I cant say that the city has much to recommend it. We arrived ... read more

Happy New year to you all. We spent this new years at the hotel in Mendoza where they put on a spectacular dinner event. The hotel worked very hard all day to set it up in the large courtyard and it looked beautitul. Until that is it started to rain at about 3pm. As this area is a desert and only gets about 7 inches of rain a year this might not have been expected but the hotel staff all told us that this often happens at this time. Anyway they had to scramble and get it all moved inside to amuch smaller room. The program went on and we were treated to a great meal, seranaded by Italian opera singers and finally at midnight a firework display set to the Halleluia chorus. It was a ... read more

Here in Mendosa it is Sunday and the city is quiet and slow to get going. I like a city where Sunday is for family life and msot shops are closed. We walked around for a long time and it was wonderful to have the city so much to ourselves. This city is well laid out and has some beautiful parks and plazas, everywhere are sidewalk cafes and the culture is laid back and relaxed. After an afternoon siesta which fits perfectly into life here we were ready to go for dinner. Time schedules are different here. We breakfast at 10-11am, have a light lunch at 3pm and then a siesta followed by dinner at 10pm. Tonight we went to a Tango club. We have been to a few before in Buenos aires but this one ... read more