Our destination is a misnomer. There are no vinas although historically it was set up in an area that used to have them.
We taxi to the airport, and soon have a Hertz rental car for a month. A Peugeot 209 for US$130. Their map book of Chile is excellent and instructions how to get on the road out of town too.
It’s a lovely drive up over the coastal range of hills and we pass many toll gates and cough up cash, about $4.
Into huge Valparaiso metropolis, it’s hazy in the mountains but a pretty drive dropping 1,000m down to the coast and into smaller manageable Viña Del Mar.
Our lovely boutique hotel is a gem in a residential neighborhood. Unfortunately everyone here has a dog. It barks at everyone else’s dog morning and night! Our yard is locked and barred so parking is safe and easy. The garden is gorgeous and the renovated house a beautiful place. WE are on the 2nd floor but Andreas carried our bags up. We are welcomed warmly with English speaking hosts, whose total desire is that we should be happy and enjoy everything the area has to offer.
Armed with a good map of town, we are off to explore the floral clock (memories of Edinburgh...) and the very scenic coastal walk.
We run into an English couple we met on the bus trip over from Mendoza, Small world.
We stroll the resto strip, Eminem’s me of the Gold Coast in Mazatlan. But like Spain, not open til 8pm!! After a rest at the hotel, we return to the little Peruvian resto just down the steep hill for wine/ beer/Reinata (fish) ceviche and fish soup. After the steep climb home, we sleep like logs.
No comments:
Post a Comment