We visited Vina del Mar and Valparaiso today. On the way in, we stopped by a museum that has a Maoi statue out front. You may recognize the style from those on Easter Island, which is part of Chile. Here's a photo of me with the statue:
Our first official stop was at the beach in Vina del Mar, which means "vineyards of the sea." The city is famous for its vineyards, but we were more interested in the beach. (I'll write another post for the vineyard we visited on Friday.) Here's the first picture I took of the beach:
The water was Maine-cold, so we didn't go in. However, even if it were 80 degrees we wouldn't have gone in because of the strong surf. The lifeguards were blowing their whistle whenever anyone (especially kids) got more than waist-deep. Here's a picture I took of a warning sign:
Roughly translated, "playa no apta para el bano" means "the beach is not good for swimming." Totally agree! There is a relatively steep drop to the water's edge and the waves were large (>5'). This makes for good surfing, but also BAD undertow.
After leaving the beach, we went to lunch at Coco Loco, a revolving restaurant in Valparaiso. It was nice, but it revolved so fast that it gave some of our group motion sickness and they had to eat downstairs. Here's a photo of me on the balcony of the restaurant:
After leaving the restaurant, we went to a cul-de-sac that contains a bunch of souvenir shops and some photo opportunities. Here's a picture I took of the port of Valparaiso:
Notice the shipping containers in the foreground and the cruise ship in the background. Valpo is Chile's largest port and my parents' cruise ship landed there after their trip to Antarctica in 2007. Eventually, I'll post more pictures on our SmugMug site.
Thanks,
Matt
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