December 19,

Up by 0730. Jeff had been awake since 0620. I readied. We packed and had our Javas with breakfast of eggs with mushrooms and onions & the last chorizo. We checked out by 1040- the easiest check out yet. We just had to click a check out button on our WhatsApp link and presto! Then we walked a few blocks to the metro, riding the subway to where we caught our bus. The bus pulled in and everyone boarded at 1120. It left by 1130 – five minutes late, but that was a quick loading time.

The drive took us west and north. We started by leaving the big city of Santiago, which took a little while, as it is spread out in a valley. Once in the countryside, the first thing I remember seeing was a herd of horses along the road. There were fields of corn and other grains, but mostly it is a dry, mountainous terrain. We drove over, around, and through mountains by way of a couple of tunnels. As we were getting closer I saw my first llama. We also passed by some vineyards. There were a few towns we zoomed through. Our driver drove pretty rapida (fast).

We arrived at the bus station in Valparaiso at 1250, ten minutes early. Which gave us 1 hr and ten minutes until we could check in. Jeff found a place to eat, Paola Restaurant. Paola is the Spanish equivalent of Paula in English, and the restaurant was founded in 1964, a wee bit before I was born. I was delighted! We sat and ordered. I had a “Chilena”- a hamburger with cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, and a fried egg topped with homemade mayo accompanied by fries. Jeff had “Cazuela de Vacuno”- beef stew: an intense beef soup (with a small whole roast piece of meat), carrots, onions, potatoes, squash (pumpkin), and green beans accompanied by a corn, lettuce, beet salad. We were also given a starter of buns, lemon wedges and a pico de gallo. So much food, too much food! But wow it was amazing. Jeff drank a Cerveza and I had a Pisco Sour. We paid 28,710CLP ($31.53) and rolled out of the restaurant! We walked the ½ block back to the bus station, and ordered a Cabify (Uber clone) to get us to our new accommodation. We arrived at the next town over and will be here for one month.

      Welcome to Vina del Mar, Chile!

We were greeted by our hosts, let into their gated residence. Where we will be staying is a country style cabin behind their country home.  We were let in and given a tour of the ins and outs. It is a two bedroom, two bath accommodation. But one bedroom is a single bed, and one bathroom is for emergencies only- something to do with the plumbing and roots. So we will stick with the main bedroom and bathroom. There are a lot of windows for natural light and cooling. In fact Vina del Mar, is cooler – highs are upper sixties to low seventies with nights in the mid fifties. The cabin has heat – which sounds like we will be wanting it.

We unpacked and then relaxed. Later we went out walking to a Santa Isabel Grocery Store about a mile away. We picked out some things and huffed back, mostly uphill to our place. We will be getting some exercise! Supper was a snack of a small salad, cheese, bread, and trail mix with a wine. Good Day!