Day 4 - Concon and Renaca (Day at the Beach)

Beach Day! We headed north up the coast to Renaca and Concon. The day was sunny and the skies were blue - normal day in Chile :) We stopped off at a spot where Pablo Naruda did some of his writing. The spot overlooked the seaside cliffs of the pacific coast with a very cool breeze passing through. It was a great spot to reflect.

We continued northward to Renaca and noticed that going to the beach on a Saturday meant a LOT of people. Holy crap do Chilleans love the beach. We continued north a little more and when we arrived we had to find a small patch to camp out in. Chillean beaches are, in my opinion, the best beach experience I've ever had. The conditions are perfect (it's Wednesday and nothin's on TV); The sun is HOT, the breeze off the water is cool and when you lie down, you get the brilliant warmth of the sun. If it's too hot, you get up and the cool breeze brings immediate relief. The ocean is COLD as hell. That damn Humbolt current really does a good job. This is actually a good thing since the hot sun is well offset by the cold water. The surf is brilliant and body surfing is excellent.

After a good hot day at the beach, we decided to continue northward to Concon and located a wonderful Empanada spot on the street. The lady was nice enough to point out my options (Ground beef, Abalone, Crab, Mushroom, and like 6 more types).

We tried the crab, the abalone and the ground beef (pino). My god they were good. THESE were empanadas. The shells were crispy, the insides were hot and moist, the suckers were PACKED with crab. Seafood heaven baby, seafood heaven.

When we parked our car at the beach, this nice lady put a cardboard box on our windshield. This made a huge difference in the temp of our car when we got back. I tipped her and she was happy. I don't mind that service, it was quite nice not to have to air out the car. On our way back to Renaca, we noticed some of these cardboard boxes were - shall we say - branded? Nice. Very nice. Durex - protect your weenie, protect your car.

Our hostel hostess recommended La Gatita in Renaca for dinner as it "can't be missed". We arrived at around 10:30pm (normal for dinner). Talk about lines. It was like Stephos. Too bad the food wasn't as good! We got to eat around 11:30pm and ordered whatever fish was left. The fish was overcooked but the sauce was good. Sandy ordered a chillean salad as a side dish. Ha. That's onion and tomato uncooked. Who the heck just eats onion and tomato? Yuck!

Day 4 - Concon and Renaca (Day at the Beach)

Renaca, Chile