Vina del Mar, Chile: A Day on the Coast

Today, Kim and I--along with Anna and Kat, two Californians we met in our hostel--went to Vina del Mar, which is a twenty-minute bus ride from Valparaiso.  Though they are called sister cities, there are stark differences between the two.  While Valparaiso has an old-city layout (tightly packed houses and narrow winding streets), Vina del Mar has wide boulevards and lots of foliage, as you can see above.

Also, while Valparaiso has all the hustle and bustle of a port city and fishing center, Vina del Mar has the beach!  We were fortunate to catch this artist in the act of making some awesome sand sculptures--very cool.

The other big difference is that Valparaiso was a mix between well-kept old houses and completely run-down old houses, while all we saw in Vina del Mar were these condos.  Despite the inherent vacation-town feel of the city, the four of us still had a great time walking the beach and sticking our toes in the Pacific.

I took this picture because, well, waves are pretty, and the water color reminded me of Lake Michigan on a perfect summer day.

Kim and I as we were walking back towards the Vina del Mar center, with Valparaiso in the background.

After our weekend of fun on the coast, we caught an evening bus to Santiago, just in time to watch the clouds roll in from the ocean across the vineyards that dot the whole way from the coast to Santiago.  What a great mini-holiday!