Blogs from La Serena, Coquimbo Region, Chile, South America - page 7

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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena January 9th 2009

Español mas abajo We went to aunt Wilma's for lunch to celebrate my granny's birthday. Aunt Wilma surpassed herself, as she baked an amazing chocolate and cherry birthday cake, I could hardly believe my tastebuds! At the lunch was grandad, aunt Wilma and her family (Uncle Juan, Juan Eduardo and Seba), aunt Rosa (gran's sister in law) and her grandaughter Valerie. Andy and I got to aunt Wilma's house early, where I helped out with lunch, and Andy headed off to play football playstation games with my cousins (boys eh!). My usually prompt grandparents were about an hour late, but it's only because my aunt is infamous for her late lunches. In the evening we went home and my grandad had bought a massive delicious cake. Today was the best day for cakes ever! ---------------------------------- ESPAÑOL ... read more
Us posing (apart from Juan Edo) - Posando (menos el J Edo)
Aunt Wilma and the cake she baked - Tia Wilma y la torta que hizo
¡La cumpleañera!

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena January 8th 2009

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
La Serena
La Serena
La Serena

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena January 7th 2009

La Serena is a very pleasant town on the coast It is the holiday centre for many Chilians and Argentinan's looking for a little warmth on the beach. As for most of chile going to the beach means taking a warm blanket with you and a wetsuit if you are seriously thinking of getting wet La Serena was a nice surprise. Although the water is no no means warm enough to tempt me the beches are long golden and clean whihc is a lot different from other beaches we have visited here. The wind is blowing , true but is does not have the bitting cold other places further south have. Despite the warnings from the guide books that in January the beaches are wall to wall bodies today they are almost empty. The stretch a ... read more
La Serena
La Serena
La Serena

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena January 7th 2009

Español más abajo Andy and I decided to head to the lovely beach of La Serena for the day. We set off the lengthy walk from home.... we were offered a lift by tata, but we wanted to walk as Machu Picchu practice. So we packed provisions... water, lots of sunblock, sandwiches, parasol etc etc. It took about an hour to get to the first bit of the beach (“El Faro” - The Lighthouse), but we wanted to get to a particular point which took a further 45 minutes or so, on the way there we had a lunch break and watched a bit of a game of water football... we were very tired and a bit burnt already by the time we got to our beach spot. After spending a good 5 hours at the ... read more
On the way to the beach... nearly there! - En camino a la playa... ¡casi llegando!
El Faro
Lunch stop - Parada de almuerzo

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 31st 2008

Ver màs abajo para Español. After finally arriving in La Serena we now had to get everything for our New Years Eve Gathering/Celebrations which we were going to be doing a Beach-side apartment we were renting for just a couple of days from the 31st December till the 2nd of January. We had all of Carla's family (apart from her mum who was in England) coming over which meant there would be 12 of us inside of a small apartment which wasn't going to be easy, especially as we were going to be having a sit down meal. We arranged the seating which just about fitted with a cramped table of eight and we brought in the table from the balcony to make another table of four. So we bought plenty of booze, most of Carla's ... read more
Carla's Grandparents - Abuelitos
Almost Everyone in the Apartment - Casi todos en el departamento
Andy, Carla, Aunt Rosana, Seba, Juan Eduardo and Aunt Wilma - Andy, Carla, Tia Rosana, Seba, Juan Eduardo y Tia Wilma

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 28th 2008

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448I feel like crap. I found a hostel worker and told them that I wouldn´t be making the tour today. I lay in bed until about 9:30, then grabbed some breakfast. The hostel serves up some wicked buns, and some jam with big chunks of kiwi. The coffee was horrid - instant coffee is the standard in Chile, and it was funny to note that the hostel had a menu of breakfast items that could be had for an additional charge, including a pot of "real coffee". At least they acknowledge that instant Nescafe is garbage!I wandered over to the big, modern mall over by the bus station in search of an additional pair of shorts, only to find that it didn´t open until 11:00, so I popped over to an internet cafe for ... read more
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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 27th 2008

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448Breakfast with Ben and Brent, before checking out. Unfortunately today, there was no sign of Macarena :( Not sure if it was a scam or not, but when I checked out I was told that I hadn´t paid for my second night at the hotel. Luckily, I hung on to my receipt - innocent mistake? Who knows, but given what I´ve seen so far with the taxi situation, I wouldn´t doubt that it was a rip-off attempt. Off to the bus station, where I noticed several Spanish-quality females also waiting for their buses. Ahh ... memories of Spain ... Interesting to note that in many Chilean stores/bakeries/fast food joints, they have a system set up where you first pay for your items, then present the receipt to another employee, who then gives you the ... read more
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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 15th 2008

Again not much to do in this town. It was more of a stopover as we coudn't be arsed with a 23 hour journey to Santiago. Went and chilled on the beach for a bit then got picked up from the hostel by a guy who looked like Mohinder Surresh, to take us star gazing. Boucs and I purchased some Chilean wine for a quid to drink on the way up there - which made the excursion even better! Star gazing was wicked, saw Jupiter and Venue through telescope, saw some clusters and a load of satelites.... read more
Star Gazing

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 1st 2008

We went to stay with Laura´s host family in La Serena so that she could spend some time with them and go to her class graduation and see all of her friends. It was pretty fun for me to see some of my friends there too! We went to the beach, went shopping, hung around a bunch, went to graduation and helped Pito and some friends film a video for history class. I stayed a few days after Laura left and spent some more time with Pito, Cote (Laura´s host siblings) and friends (we finnished the video aswell). One night we went to the beach to hang out and the guys brought a guitar, hand drums and a didgeridoo which was REALLY cool! ... read more
Laura and some freinds at graduation
Laura´s class
Laura recieving her diploma

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena November 27th 2008

In the end I spent 3 days in La Serena, mostly walking around the city and chilling out. The observatory tour was very interesting, looking at the moon, planets and star constellations through telescopes, and a presentation on how stars are formed. Though by the end we were all pretty frozen by the end, and the pisco served in the bus after was a welcome warmer! Friday was…. So as Friday was such a disaster day I spent Saturday morning sorting stuff out. Had lunch over looking the market, made interesting lunch viewing. Saturday afternoon was spent chilling in the garden; I got a message from Fernanda, a friend of Amada- my hostess in Valparaiso, inviting me out for the evening with her boyfriend Juan and a friend Maria. Made my way out to the Plaza ... read more
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