Vina del Mar/Valparaiso

Yesterday we flew from Mendoza - Argentina to Santiago de Chile. The flight was short and very pleasant. In the best weather we were able to enjoy the great view of the Andes. The different colors of the mountains were unique in the sunlight. On the plane I asked a crew member about my mate import. There were no problems. And I was actually lucky at customs :-) A couple had to open their backpacks in front of us, ours were x-rayed, but there were no complaints.

We rented a car at the airport for our last few days in Chile. After a short inspection and briefing, we set off towards Valparaiso/Vina del Mar. The motorway wasn't particularly busy and my initial tension disappeared relatively quickly. In Argentina, people drove like crazy and I was afraid that it would continue like that here. But everything was very humane on the roads. What I still don't understand is the rules at an intersection without signs. I always just raise my hand, thank everyone and drive off ;-)!

Shortly before reaching Vina del Mar, our mouths were left open. We saw the burned areas caused by the fire this year. Simply terrible and unimaginable.

We arrived at our hotel in Vina del Mar in a bad mood. But when we saw our room, we quickly felt better - we have a fantastic sea view from a hill. From the bed and the balcony we can see not only the sea, but also over to Valparaiso. We actually wanted to stay overnight in Valparaiso, but since we had read so much about the increasing crime rate there, we decided on Vina del Mar. In the afternoon we walked down to the beach, strolled along the water and sat down in the sand.

Since we have an apartment, we finally wanted to make ourselves a delicious dinner. We stocked up on oatmeal, fruit and bread in a huge supermarket. The cashier asked me for a "ticket" and I showed him with my fingers... "no, we're on foot"... He looked completely baffled and repeated himself. He held up the bag with the fruit. Daniela had to laugh and said, "no ticket for the car, we should weigh the fruit"! Okay, I did that and Daniela still had to weigh the rolls. The cashier was very patient with us :-).

Back at the hotel, we prepared for a great sunset with our dinner on the balcony. It was fantastic and soooo delicious :-). We sat outside for a long time and enjoyed the view of the sea and Valparaiso.