Ed had breakfast and then we were off the ship at 7:30am
and through customs and immigrations by 8:10am and our guide wasn’t there yet
as we were to meet him at 8:30am. He
arrived in a little bit and off we went for a 10 hour tour of Valparaiso and
the country side before arriving at our hotel in Santiago.
One of the exciting things that we got to see were
several groups of sea lions as we toured along the coast. Valparaiso has miles of public beach right in
town and the suburbs. It is also a town
of 53 major hills so it was a little like driving in San Francisco, except the
streets are steeper and narrower!
We also took a tram to the top of one of the major hills for some
beautiful views of the city.
For lunch our guide, Hector took us to this very nice restaurant
right along the sea and we had a sampler platter of sea food for two and it
could have easily fed four. We were
stuffed by the time we finished our lunch.
Then we left the city for the drive to Santiago. Along the way, we stopped at a vineyard and
had a wine tasting. It was fun as we
tasted from their winery four different types of wines and sat with a couple
from Florida who had also been on our cruise.
Then it was back on the road to Santiago which is 2 hours
from Valparaiso. We were almost there
when our van started to overheat, so Hector called his father who came in his
car and we transferred everything to Hector’s father’s car and continued to
Santiago.
Finally we arrived at the Santiago Marriott and as soon as
we unloaded the car we realized that
Ed had
left his large wardrobe back at the pier!
After we got to our room, Ed called Marriott and they will send the bag
to our house via FedEx. None of the
clothes that he needs for the stay in Santiago were in that bag; however, his
warm jacket, gloves and hat were. So, we
hope that it is warm in Bloomington when we land in a couple of days.
They upgraded us to a 1 bedroom corner suite on the 18
floor that measures 50’ x50’ with a huge living room, a large bedroom, a very
large bathroom and enough closets for a stay for a month.
We went up to the executive lounge and had finger food
and something to drink and then came back to the room to unpack. After that, we walked a block to a mall and
had a sandwich while sitting outside watching the people.
We have downloaded a few vides of today and will download
more tomorrow.
Night from Santiago, Chile
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| Sea Lions |
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| Barb buying a ring |
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| Lunch |
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| Sampler sea food platter |
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| Wine tasting |
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| Snacks at the Marriott Having lunch in Valparaiso |
Sea Lions in Valparaiso
At the Santiago Marriott
