The Birthplace of Poetry and Liquor: Gabriela Mistral and Pisco Uncovered

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Last weekend we made a trip up from Viña del Mar to La Serena. The bus from Valparaíso to La Serena cost about US $10 and took eight hours, and the trip back from La Serena to Viña took six hours and cost US $14. Once we got to La Serena (at seven in the morning), we found a ¨hostel¨called Vista del Mar. There were six of us, so we stayed in a cabin with two bedrooms (two small beds, one big bed, a couch and a pull out) for about US $15 each from when we got there to one the next afternoon. It was about a five minute walk from the ocean and the staff was really helpful. We went to the central market that all of the travel guides rave about, but it was nothing special. Almost all of the stuff they had there they also have in the Artesanías in Viña. From there, we took a US $2.50 each way bus ride for an hour and a half up to the town of Vicuña in the Valle de Elqui. It was a very pretty drive and a good escape from coastal cities. As the Valle de Elqui was the birthplace and home of Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, they have a museum in Vicuña dedicated to her, and that was pretty cool. We then walked to the Capel pisco co-op, and took a tour of ¨the making of pisco¨(pisco is the national Chilean drink). There were small samples of liquor at the end, and the Capel pisco store had half of all of the liquors they produce. The next morning, we walked along the beach for about an hour, collecting shells and looking at dead squid along the shore. La Serena was nothing really special, but it was definitely a welcome excursion away from Valparaíso and Viña.

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Comments

[Mom]

Alcohol
You seem to mention liquor and bars quite a bit. Is this your College experience?