Viña del Mar's waves

And here's some more pictoral catching up from our voyage: The beaches in Viña del Mar.

The waves are high and as a result there's little swimming but plenty of getting chased by these powerful waves. Jan had some fun in them. It was fun to have some real beach time as part of our excursion. Even though it involves little hiking and a lot of people.

After christmas, summer vacations in Chile and Argentina start and the Valparaiso/Viña del Mar region receives a huge number of these vacationers. Hotel occupancy was above 97%.

Jan contemplates the Pacific.

Moments later: Pow!



Yeah, Jan made it past the wave for some
great frolicking in the ocean!



Check out the kids' reaction
to this one!



Plenty of wave chasing by vacationers.



Birds doing a fly by. Hard to take
pics of birds in flight with a
point-and-click...

Feliz Año Nuevo, Happy New Year, Alles Gute im Neuen Jahr, Bonne annee

New year in Valparaiso was a blast! We got plenty of hugs and kisses from chilenos as well as shared a dance or two. As part of the festivities (that lasted until we got home at 3:00 am -- and then opened the small bottle of champagne left by our bed), we had a delicious supper at a funky restaurant, Cafe Vinilo. The chef was very creative and accommodated my vegetarian palate brilliantly. Hence, on Monday, the masterful chef Gonzalo will be teaching us about la cocina chilena, so we can serve up 'authentic' chilean food at our next dinner party.

Jan's Charquican, a chilean
national dish.



Dinner at Cafe Vinilo.







Scrumptious desert.









Now, as for the street party ... the photos and video tell it like it was. Awesome!


We fit right in here :)



Good times.




  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
May your new year be filled with wondrous moments, plenty of love, peace and happiness. Bring on the good times!
That's it for now ... we're heading to the beach!



Paaaaarrrrty!



Happy New Year!