Sun, Sand and More

Sorry for the lack of blogging recently, but didn´t want to bore you all with the same old stories.  So the weekend just gone we had a lovely 4 days off, and so to make the most I headed to the coast to escape the smog and noise of Santiago.  With 3 of my friends from the hostel, we headed to Valparaíso early in the morning to try and avoid all the queues and traffic jams that appeared later in the day.  We arrived, had a lovely lunch in this little café where I’d been before, and to our surprise they was a cultural event taking place in the square where the café is.  Live music, traditional Chilean dancers and some flamenco made the experience even better.  After a little walk around we headed off to the beach in Reñaca.  About a 40 minute bus ride later, we arrived and started relaxing on the beach.  It was pretty windy, but still we all managed to chill and get a nice tan!  Note to self, there really is no need to take swimming gear as the Pacific Ocean is freezing!!!  Feeling in the summer mood, we headed for a Mojito and some Mexican food in a nearby bar-restaurant.  Being Chile, the Mojito was extra strong, but chilling on the rooftop over-looking the Pacific was a perfect way to round off the day.  They say that during the summer holidays, Reñaca turns into a 24 hours party place with all the university students heading there before starting the next year of studies.  And it definitely had the feel of a European party destination, although luckily it wasn’t too busy when we went.  Heading back to Valpo, I headed out for a Chilean friend’s birthday for a couple of hours, trying my first Sacrifico Maya (Mayan Sacrifice).  This is a long shot of Mezcal, Tequila and Kahlua set on fire and drunk in one through a straw- it is very strong, but also very warming and I actually quite liked it.

Sunday, I woke up early to move hostels to be with the 3 other people, and we headed up to La Sebastiana (one of the three Pablo Neruda’s house).  I preferred this one to La Chascona in Santiago, and the views of the ocean were amazing-  you can definitely tell that Neruda got a lot of inspiration from sitting by the windows looking out at the Pacific!  We had a little look around the market stalls at the top of the Cerro and had some food before heading down the steep hill to take the bus to Viña del Mar (the more upmarket neighbor of Valparaiso).  We went to a pizzeria for some cocktails, beer and eventually some pizza, and somehow managed to spend 3 hours there with our silly shenanigans :D.  Moving onto to a couple more places we rounded the night off with a McDonalds at 2:30am before heading home.

Rising early again on the Monday, I took my friends (and also 2 people who had just graduated from Bath Uni of all places, and who know some of my friends aswell) on a boat tour around the harbour.  We headed up one more cerro to the Naval Museum and market there, before it was time to head back to the “Big Smog.” All in all a good weekend, and I love getting away from the city for some fresh air.  However, I don’t think I will have the chance to leave the city again in the next few weeks before I pop back to the UK for my “holiday.”  I will pop some photos on here of the last few weeks for you all to have a gander at.  But for now, that’s all- take care everyone!