Friday 24th March 2017
Pacific Ocean! Vina del Mar (the Garden City) and
Valparaiso.
Long coach journey through to the coast, with a stop-off to
meet some llamas and drink TeiCha (or something like that) – a local strong
brew which tasted horrible. Allegedly takes an hour to become unconscious which
I could believe. Passed the Casablanca
valley, which houses great conditions for producing Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
On to Vina del Mar with some lovely old
houses, but the majority was a sprawling seaside resort, built up the
hills. I had a quick cold paddle in the
Pacific, which had the ‘no swimming’ red flags flying. I could see why, as the
steep drop caused a large back-swell which could easily carry a person out to
sea.
A lovely meal was arranged at a very posh restaurant with
attentive waiters. Complimentary drinks (Kir Royale and Sauvignon Blanc
chosen), for meal I had empanada and salsa, sliced beef and vegetable stir-fry
and a plate of mixed puds to finish.
Very nice.
The next town along, and now adjoining due to urban sprawl, was
Valparaiso, again built up into the hills with very colourful neighbourhoods
and funky graffiti. This port goes back
to 1536 and was declared a World Heritage site by Unesco. Luckily the van
dropped us off at the top of the hill and we meandered down with our guide
Jaime desperately trying to keep us together and off the roads. Bit like
herding cats and not helped by the alcohol consumption. Picturesque little funicular lift took us
down to Sotomayor Square and the docks.
A few of us decided to pay a little extra and take a converted fishing
boat around Valparaiso marina.
Immediately saw some sea lions vying for a buoy and another spread over
the bulbous bow of a commercial ship.
Lovely weather yet again and gave a good opportunity to look back at the
towns for an excellent view. 
The return trip saw the usual sleeping in the coach but
which helped revive us ready for the evening. Our last night together as a
group of 16x consisted of a very local street bar for wine, beers and pisco
sours. I bought a round to celebrate my retirement tour. Iain and I shared a large beef and cheese hot
sandwich which was ample after the lunch.
Gave Loretta a load of items to take back home to Blighty and lighten
our load – hairdryer (never used), leaflets, CDs, souvenirs, Iain’s broken
camera. Stole her kettle and cups in return!
Big farewells to Loretta, Neil and Pam, Don and Pam, Allan and Cindy, Mary
and Susan. From 16 to 7. Will seem odd after a month of travelling together. Bon Voyage team x
No comments:
Post a Comment