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Published: February 17th 2007
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KJ´s going to try to recount any and all interesting happenings on this wee leg of the journey. Viña del Mar
When we decided to go to Santiago, it seemed a natural side trip to check out Viña del Mar and Valparaiso. We also had some response via the couch-surfing website and hoped to surf our first night with a local. So, we got a bus from Santiago. Buses go something like every 15 minutes from the capital to Viña, so we had no problem getting one. We waited something like 6 minutes. We were told, however, that getting a return bus on a Sunday from this popular weekend destination was next to impossible without advance reservations. But we were mid-week, so had no problems.
The bus ride was short (thankfully) and rather uneventful, except that it gave us a glimpse at the ¨burbs of Santiago...rows of almost identical houses, not too unlike any American city. Even (sadly) complete with a Wal-Mart or two.
We arrived about 6pm, and as the couchsurfing thing fell through for the first night at the last minute, we were left to roam around looking for a hostel or hotel. Lucky for us,
we found a decent place right away. Residential Blanchait...a very old, funky building, but nice enough. So, our shower lacked a floor (really...just a hole looking into the depths of the ancient building!), but we scored a private toilet and a double bed at the shared bath rate. We were happy.
As per our usual habit, we quickly dumped our bags and headed right back out to explore the city...said to be one of the most famous beach resorts in all of South America. The streets were packed with window-shoppers, beach-goers, families, tourists, dogs...you name it. We explored around a bit, bought a couple of silly trinkets in the market area (we´re still quite enamored of the Homer Simpson as "you name it" T-shirts, for some odd reason...next time any of you are in our outhouse, you´ll see the results of some of this frivilous shopping) and just tried to soak it all in.
Still being Valentine´s Day, the place was crawling with people selling flowers (real ones, and of course ones made of balloons, paper, wire, wood, fabric, etc). Women all along the streets were toting around their Dia de Amor trinkets. While public displays of affection
seem to be on high down here on any given day, people were truly putting on the show that night!
Excited to be back near an ocean, we strolled along the walkway on the beach. Along our walk we encountered tango dancers, saxophone players, ice cream vendors, churros salespeople (yum! I hadn´t eaten these since junior high, and they were really tasty!), digriadoo players, sandcastles, a string quartet, horse-drawn carriages, and lots of other things. We were joking with one another about what might be seen around the next corner. It was really nice. The highlight of the evening, or at least the best belly laugh either of has had in a long time, was found at the super crazy KID ZONE carnival type area. There were the trampoline-bungy things, bounce houses, spinning things, and best of all...the Lil´Kid 4-Wheeler Track. It was called "Niños en Moto". We actually had to sit down, we were laughing so hard at the hilarious little people racing around on tiny ATV´s. They weren´t exactly going slow, either! Well, except one poor kid whose battery was wearing down and he was franticly looking all around him at the kids zipping past his own
Street Scene in Busy Resort
We people watched as we drank beer and ate fries on this restaurant balcony. putt-putting machine. Fortunately, he got pulled into the pits where a crew quickly gave him a new battery and we zoomed out into the fray. I can´t imagine what it was like for the three guys working this attraction. They were running all over the place, dealing with crashes, and little kids who had obviously never been in control of anything faster than a Big-Wheel. It was truly insane and beyond hysterical. We especially loved the little girl who discovered how to make her lil´pink 4-wheeler peel out and did at least twice on every lap of the track, even trying to do while the Pit Guy had ahold of her head and handlebars in effort to have her recognize that her time was up! It was fun, fun, funny!
Finally around 11pm, we decided to hunt down a place to eat. When we walked past one restaurant advertising nachos and tacos, we just couldn´t resist. Dave´s never-ending quest for refried beans was temporarily satisfied with an extremely over-priced plate of nachos, complete with beans, salsa (with cilantro!), sour cream and guacamole.
Valparaiso
Okay, I decided that I had enough photos to add of Valparaiso that it warrented its own journal entry...so check it out.
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ashley
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hey guys, i've been following your blog at work and loving it. where are you headed after mendoza? ash