After La Serena, where we spent three nights, we took a short trip up the Elqui Valley to celebrate my birthday (yes, I´m 39!) It was a pretty town, and also pretty boring, but I got to visit a Pisco factory, where they process and bottle the regional beverage (sort of the Chilean version of Grappa.) We also got a little "extra" for a hotel--our own bathroom and cable, and had a nice dinner in town. Woo hoo.
We then landed in Viña del Mar, which was a lovely Pacific resort city right next to Valparaiso (which Lonely Planet also lists as Chile´s second biggest city.) We visited the hills of Valparaiso and the Beaches of Viña. The weather was great, but the ocean was quite rough, and very green (I have to read up on why this is.) The beaches were full, but no one could really swim - they just walked to the edge of the water and let the huge waves splash them. It´s not like it was really hot anyway, with the cool ocean breeze and all.
Also in Viña, we discovered our favorite Chilean food - or bar stack - so far. It´s called Chorillana, and it´s basically meat, eggs, onions and cheese piled on top of french fries. Delicious, cheap, and it hasn´t made us sick yet! We´re looking forward to some good seafood in the south (up here, they always want to fry everything!)
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