Valparaiso, Renaca, and ConCon

We had a great weekend in Vina. On Saturday Nate and I wandered around alone. We walked through some more stores and small markets. We found a really neat palace that had been turned into a museum. We think (after reading the history in Spanish) the palace belonged to the daughter of the founder of Vina del Mar. Inside the museum there were mainly paintings but also some old furniture and statues. We discovered a path outside the palace and started taking it up, thinking it would go somewhere neat. But at the top we realized it was just a path from the houses on the top of the hill to the town on the bottom. Oh well...at least there was a really good view of Vina and we got a small workout in! :)

Our friend Young arrived later on Sat. afternoon with his friend who lives in Vina. They picked us up in his friend's truck and drove us up the coast to Renaca, kind of like a suburb of Vina. The place was extremely crowded since it is a very popular summer vacation spot for Chileans. We then drove to Valparaiso. Valparaiso used to be the biggest port in Chile. The city is not near as nice as Vina. The people who live there are primarily the working class. People say that Vina del Mar looks down its nose at old, run down poor Valparaiso. However, the town is very unique and has neat buildings. The streets are very narrow and windy as the homes are all built on the side of a hill. Funiculars are very common there. These are like trams or railcars that bring people from their homes on the hill down into the city. It was awesome to have our own personal tour guides. We definitely would have gotten lost in Valparaiso, and there was no way we could have seen everything by walking.

The next day we spent a couple hours on the beach in Renaca. The water was very cold, but Nate and the guys went in for a few minutes. After relaxing in the beach, we headed up to ConCon, another town north of Vina. They took us to a typical seafood restaurant and ordered lots of different kinds of seafood. We were very greatful for Young and his friends. We got a premium personalized tour of the towns, thanks to their knowledge!

The palace we toured

Renaca

The hills of ValpariasoYoung, Nate, and Lisa