Viña del Mar

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Had a good day yesterday in Viña del Mar area. We went there by bus for lunch with Estéban, Jané and Vicénte but we ended up spending all day with them, touring through Viña, Reñaca and Con Con including a visit to a restaurant right on the coast. It´s literally built onto the rocks and has crashing surf outside the huge West facing windows. We all had seafood chowders or soups, and the food arrived still boiling in the ceramic bowls. They heat the bowls in the oven before putting the soup in. The food and company was excellent and to top it off, the Chilean Air Force´s acrbatic flying team put on a great show in front of the beaches in the area. We had perfect seats for that . We watched the show to the sounds of a musac version of Let it Be which was being played in the restaurant.

After a tour through the resort areas lining the coast North of Viña, we went to the beach where Abbey and I played in the crashing surf. It was a big surf, with a strong undertow, and I´ll be surprised if she doesn´t have bruised arms from me hanging onto her. Lots of people have said that the ocean here is too cold to swim in, but I´m betting they haven´t been to Setting Lake in June. The water wasn´t warm, but certainly good for a 20 minute swim. The beach has millions of little crab-like creatures in the wet sand about the size of a dime. When the surf washes in and out, you can feel them hitting your ankles and legs like little rocks. Scoop up a handful of the wet sand and you see two or three of them frantically burying themselves to get out of sight.

Had an evening snack and coffee with Estéban, Jané and Vicénte at his parent´s apartment and they drove us to Viña to catch a cab home. We may not return there due to the crowds. By comparison, we find that Valparaíso is calm. Estéban´s parents leave here in the summer and go South to avoid the summer crowds.

I missed an opportunity to get to a soccer (or futbol) game here on Thursday. Our friend Elias, whom we met on Wednesday was going to see if he could take me to a game of the hometown team, the Santiago Wanderers. But he couldn´t get away from work. I don´t know why the Valparaíso team has a Santiago name, but it just adds to the allure I guess. The team colour is Roughrider green, and the passion displayed by the fans may even be greater than rider pride (When talking about the team Elias would sometimes pull his jersey up so he could kiss the logo to demonstrate his affection for the team. I haven´t seen a lot of Rider fans do that).

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Comments

[Dawna]

H20 looks lovely
Nice swimsuit Abbey ... wish I could have kicked some water around with you guys! You KNOW I love the H2O!

[Leslie King]

hello
thanks for the blogging. It is almost like being there (well, not quite, it was -33C when I got up this morning! Check my Facebook page, or Dale Shantz's he put pictures of the Family Fun Night on it. We miss you. Have fun.

[Mom]

Seafood
You got me at the chowder! What a great day you had. I look forward to reading your Blog every day,sometimes more than once.Keep up the good work. Abbey, I have taped a few clips of Just For Laughs: Gags, and I will keep them for you to see when you get back to Winnipeg. You are meeting hte most interesting people.Keep having fun. Lots of love.

[Gail]

Have you had to use your Spanish a lot or do most speak or understand Engligh? Sounds like your having a blast.

[lossmithviajan]

Speaking Spanish
Hola Gail. We use our Spanish every day, many times. We use it to ask directions (but then can´t understand the response), purchase food or water, find the bathroom and talk to the people here at the B & B. It is improving immensely. We also find ourselves speaking French - yesterday a man from Haiti took up a conversation with us and we mostly spoke in French. We also talked to a couple from France after we had our camera taken - he told us about an incident that happened to them, all in French. Abbey didn´t say anything at the time, but afterwards she told us everything he had said, which was what I had understood. And here, you don´t worry about how bad you speak it, you just speak it. I like that.

[cassidy]

awe
omg...you look so cuuuutttee!!!!you look chile hahahahahaha thats funny.love bff cassidy

[Dawn]

Rival Roughrider Spirit?
I'm having a hard time believing that Rider Nation has competition for spirit! (I have been known to the kiss the Rider logo on my shirt...) I finally got the opportunity to catch up with your Blog today! So cool to read about your adventures and see your pictures!