The Grande Finale

To the Beach....

Making the last post of a trip like ours is a bit tricky cause we jump from the last adventure to the plane and off to home we go. This post is "post" adventure as I sit in California waiting for the Easter bunny. The last bit of our adventure begins with a new guide, Valentina, and she is delightful. Off we go from Santiago to the coast in search of the cool wines of Chile. As usual the country side reminds us of California and not only have we tasted some interesting wines but get to see a bit of the country. We travel through eucalyptus trees to a winding road that leads down to the Pacific ocean and we feel at home. The coast is rugged and we pass through vacation condos and hotels where in Summer, I mean Winter for us, it gets crowded with people playing by the ocean. We driver parks in a small lot and we walk across the sand, by the fishing boats and up the stairs where we have a great view of the ocean and the small fishing boats bringing in the catch. We watch them roll their boats up from the water to rest on the sand under the restaurant. Fun stuff!

Valparaiso

Here comes the city of Valparaiso, our destination and home for two days. Wow this place is different. This is a port town and has been a favorite since the Spanish found it in the middle 1500s. Things boomed until the Panama Canal put an end to it and the City hit hard times. It is still an important port but it now is a tourist stop and artist community in addition to everything else. The houses are colorful and the entire city sits on steep hills and it is a kick to look around. When you look closely you begin to wonder why some of the buildings are still standing! Building codes are lax to say the least. Earthquakes are a problem in Chile and the quakes of 2006 and 2010 did some real damage. We venture out of our hotel and everywhere there are steps.

Casa Higueras

Our hotel requires steps up to the roof for a great view, down to the dinning room, down again for the pool, up to our room. And that is just in the hotel! Outside it is a picture a minute as the folks in Valpariso excel in wall graffiti and no wall is left out of the effort. It is playful, creative, a little leftover from the 60s and downright entertaining. We almost get lost walking downtown but we find our "stairway to heaven" that leads, huffing a puffing, back to the hotel. Valpariso is fun and we end the last full day of our adventure and Chile with dinner in a small room of the hotel with nice music, food, wine and great friends thinking of the adventures we have shared. The next day we travel by the coast to our first stop and pile into a typical seaside restaurant where they serve us empanadas. Like small warm bread rolls at every meal, the Chile people love empenadas like we do our hot dogs. And they fill them with good stuff like cheese, seafood, onions and whatever. They bring us a plate and we fill up . We end it all with visits to a couple of wineries, one last great meal by the ocean and we head for the airport and home. I hope you enjoyed our blog and thanks for hanging with us on our great adventure.

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