Viña del Mar

In celebration of All Saints Day, we had a four day weekend last weekend. I figured it was a good time to take advantage of the proximity of Viña del Mar, and headed out to the coast on Sunday afternoon. Claire Baker, a friend of mine from El Paso who I had not seen since 8th grade, lives there with her husband and 20 month-old son, Lucas. It was really great to see her and meet her new family. René, her husband, is in the Navy, so they live in Navy apartments up on a hill in Viña. Although the coast was covered in a cloud (or marine layer) all weekend, there was still a nice view from their apartment.




View of Viña del Mar from Claire and Rene's apartment


When I arrived in Viña del Mar, they picked me up at the bus station. We then went for a snack, also called "el once" at a local place and had some Pisco Sours and Empanadas. After that, we went to their house to pack up for the evening before heading to Olmué, a nearby town. René's extended family had rented a house for the long weekend in Olmué. I met all of his siblings (or at least most of them) and had my first experience at a Chilean asado. I hope that my spanish improves as much as Claire´s obviously has after living her for a while, because I had a hard time understanding anything René's family said. They talk so fast! Claire, on the other hand, despite her gringa background, was able to participate in the conversation just like one of the family - even with a Chilean accent! I have a long way to go until I sound remotely similar to a Chilean.




René, Lucas and Claire


Monday morning, we got up and had breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Reñaca, a beach town just north of Viña del Mar. We looked around the shops to find Lucas a halloween costume which was lots of fun because he is the cutest child in all of Chile. We settled on an adorable Tiger outfit which he wore for the rest of the day.




Cutest kid in all of Chile

 After walking along the beach, enjoying Dulce de Leche helado, and seeing a bit of Reñaca, we returned to Viña for lunch. Claire made delicious pollo arvejado, which is chicken with peas and carrots. Then it was time to head back to the bus station for the trip back to Santiago.