Blogs from Viña del Mar, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America - page 19

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 ... read more

You all know what happened at NYE, now NY day is another thing. We finished partying around 7am and caught a ¨emigro¨ (local bus) back to the apartment we were staying at. There was me, Jovicia, Matias, one of Matias female friends (did not get her name), Julia (but you have to call her Hulia as they pronounce J as an H here) and Yasna. We sat around outside the apartment for a while talking and laughing, but finally I had to go and get some sleep so I had to wish the girls good bye (very hard not to invite then in, but Matias told me we could not bring back girls to the apartment. Fair enough). Yasna gave me her # and asked me in Spanish to give her a call as we could ... read more

We’re happy to say we have found a place to live, at least for now. Vina del Mar has many “second” homes. Since it is off-season, they are now vacant and for rent (furnished). We found a nice 3 bed, 3 bath apartment with a view and right on the beach. Something different for us, even if Vina del Mar is not very exotic to us in other ways. We moved in September 9th, but the rent will quadruple on December 31, so we will have to move on at some point. Just up the beach from our apartment are several parks, and an amusement park that is open every weekend. The boys love doing the bungee-jump! The beach gets lots of weekend visitors and folks selling crafts on the boardwalk. There are lots of dogs ... read more

During our stay in Valporaiso we decided to checkout the next-door city of Viña del Mar, a favoured holiday spot for Chileños and a piece of prime real estate along the coast. Valpo and Viña are pretty much contiguous and it's hard to see by looking at a map where one ends and another begins. Travelling through, the difference is certainly noticeable as you pass from the charismatic disorder of Valpo to the manicured, palm groves of Viña. Valpo and Viña are connected by one of the fews bits of railroad in South America, which hosts the frequent and reliable Merval (MEtro Regional de VALparaiso) service with trains from Valpo to Viña and beyond. It is also one of the few things we've found in Chile, to be reasonably priced. For that reason, we chose to ... read more

Viña del Mar, Chile South America » Chile » Vina del Mar » Viña del Mar By Bowmen16May 26th 2006Tori Lynn Scottx... read more