The Coast

While my mom was busy with transfers, getting missionaries back and forth from the airport, Little Man and I did a day trip to the coast.  It's an easy 90 minute trip to Viña del Mar from Santiago.  We made a quick pit stop to try a caramel treat, and of course, Little Man made fast friends with Martin, an adorable cat.

Viña del Mar is home to the flower clock and one of the few Maoi statues not on Easter island.  We also visited the market.

This blind seal was rejected by his herd, so the fisherman feed him.

My favorite part of the tour was definitely Val Paraiso.  It's the Chilean version of San Francisco that's painted.  It has the most street art of any town in the world, and it's so cool! There are dogs everywhere!  The town feeds them, so they're fat and happy all over town.

Nacho was our tour guide, and I loved how much he told us about the history of Chile and the current situation of the towns.

The best alfajor of the entire trip was made fresh by a little, old lady in a random side street of Val Paraiso.

We had the most amazing view for lunch on top of a restaurant.  I tried Hake for the first time - a Chilean fish, and Little Man had their version of barbecue ribs - it was almost fruity with a hint of mustard, and they were delicious!

On the way back we stopped at an all natural vineyard.  They use lavender to keep the bugs away.  We made friends with an alpaca. This was my favorite tour of the trip. We had so many wonderful people on this tour from all over the world who were so fun.  It made the tour even more enjoyable.