Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar

We went to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar today. The bus ride over was about 2 hours...a nice nap since I have been feeling pretty ill the past day or so. When we got to the city it was very compact, with houses stacked endlessly on top of other houses. The downtown area was nice but very old with a lot of damage from both time and earthquakes. We took a tour of the city by bus and got to see most of the major European communities within the city. It was very interesting to find out that each community...i.e. British, German, French, Italian, etc., all have their own fire stations, schools, and community areas. We took a couple of trams up hillsides, they were built in the late 1800's...which made a few people uneasy, but were in quite good shape for being so old. After we finished meandering around Valparaiso we headed toward Vina del Mar with a stop at the Yacht Club for lunch. The Yacht club was quite a nice little detour from the very crowded streets we had been on earlier.

At the yacht club we had initial appetizers outside on the veranda with drinks to wash everything down. We took lot of pictures out by the sea and were ushered inside to eat our 3 course meal. The meal was delicious, I had a steak covered in mushroom sauce. While we ate we got to enjoy the great view of the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after eating we were bused over to Vina del Mar.

At Vina del Mar a few of us decided to go to the casino at Hotel Del Mar. I walked out with more than I walked in with and was therefore in a pretty good mood. We walked down the coastline and eventually toward the beach. Unfortuntately I took a little spill into the water...just my feet, but still not the best. We ended the afternoon with a drink at the Tierra del Fuego followed by a two hour bus ride back to Santiago. A day well spent, and the night is still young!

-Ryan

written by  tjshepherd on May 15, 2010 from Valparaiso, Chile
from the travel blog: Neeley Fellows Trip to Chile
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