Our first day ashore! Debarkation was, well, quite frankly a nightmare. They were running at least 1/2 hour behind due to the fact that we were docked so far from the port terminal it took 10 minutes on a bus to get there. There were only 3 buses to start with – a fourth was added later – so you do the math. We actually snuck out with another luggage tag color just to get off the ship and get our car on time!
Once out of the terminal (where we had to lay our bags on the floor for the dogs to check them), we found out luggage easily (out in the parking lot, mind you!) and then found our rental car. The Rental guys were great – very helpful and friendly and we were on our way in no time at all. No maps (they had run out – horrors! Cathy without a map!), but it was easy to find Vina and our hotel. the rental guys gave us great instructions - and truly – it was only one turn.
We parked the car for free (yea! free parking! unheard of!) and checked into the hotel. That took forever! It was sort of funny, but not really. It’s too early for rooms yet, so we store our bags and go off to explore Vina. Being election day, NOTHING is open – and we mean nothing. An occasional panateria or mini-market – but beyond that – it’s deadsville. In Chile, if you are registered to vote, you must vote or incur a large fine. And you must vote where you originally registered. So, like our friends here, if you registered in Santiago, but live in Vina, you must go back to Santiago to vote. The government has a rule that all businesses must be closed until at least 2:00pm in order for their employees to have time to vote. Thus…..the deadsville comment!
However, Vina is quite a pretty town – even with everything closed. A great promenade all along the water –where the Pacific Ocean just pounds the shore – and tons of little streets and cafes and shops (of course all closed). There is also an awesome park – Parque Vargara – where we walked all through the forest and then explored the huge amphitheatre. There is a festival here in February that is supposed to be incredible. As we are leaving the park, who should be coming but Bob and Kim and 2 other Cruise Critic folks. Wow! who would have thought that! We say hi, talk a bit and let them get on their way. They are staying in Santiago, but have booked this tour of Vina on the way to their hotel.
We wandered around a bit – and found a neat looking restaurant – Cap Ducal – right on the water. Thought that might be good for dinner. so put that in the back of our minds. Got back to the hotel – tried to check in – oh my gosh – talk about nightmare. It just takes so long for them to do anything. The paper work is astonishing! It’s a a hotel – it’s checking inn- we’re not closing on a house for heavens sakes! Oy!
Finally, got our room – and went up to check it out. At the very end of the hotel – great breeze - although noisy right on the main road. But for now – it’s fine – all the amenities, plus a mini-bar! we are so good. Got our bags, then headed off to Valpo for a walking tour. We took the metro – beautiful, new, incredibly accessible. Took us right back down to the port where the ship was docked in no time and we headed up into the hills of Valpo.
Except for the fact that it was deserted (remember, election day), it was a great walk. The houses are all very colorful and perched right on the hilly lanes and alley that make up Valpo. Tons of little alleyways and funiculars and stairways. We took one funicular (100 pesos – about 20 US cents) and then walked all the way down to the main avenue by the port. Very fun for a Sunday afternoon.
We took the subte back to the hotel and had a message from Ada and Renato, who had already arrived in town. We called and scheduled our meeting for Monday – along with drinks with Alfredo and Ricardo. We’re very much looking forward to seeing everyone again! Ada has also recommended Cap Ducal for dinner – so since we found it too – we figure we can’t lose. We shower and prepare for our evening out.
We leave the hotel around fairly early – knowing we are a bit early for South American standards, but figuring we’ll be fine for dinner. It’s really quite chilly out now – the day had been gorgeous – sunny and cool, but now in the evening – it’s a tad on the cool side. We walk quickly to the restaurant – trying to warm up as we go. We arrive about 7:00 to find that it doesn’t open until 8:00. The man at reception says we should make a reservation, and we do for 8:00pm. We have quite a bit of time to kill and try to go to the Sheraton for a drink, but it’s too far and by the time we would have gotten there we would have had to turn around. So we hang out on the promenade and watch the water pounding into the rocks.
As we are hanging around the streets and the promenade – there are tons of cars zipping around town honking their horns and flying Chilean flags and Pinera balloons and banners. Obviously they have called the election – and the Pinera supporters are out in force - everywhere – all night (until about midnight) cars are driving up and down the avenues, honking their horns and showing their support for their winning candidate.
Also as we are hanging about, watching the water, a helicopter comes by and starts buzzing the beach right by the restaurant. Apparently it’s too rough to swim and they want people out of the water. Pretty interesting way to accomplish it, but hey, it’s a great photo opp! (when we get the photos organized, you’ll see how wild it looks!).
After about 1/2 an hour, we see people going into the restaurant and being seated at probably one of the best tables in the place – looking directly out on the ocean in both directions – toward Vina and Renaca and also the castle. The menu looks awesome – tons of seafood – words we don’t even have clue about – but we can figure out Congria (eel) and corvina (sea bass) and sopa de cebolla (onion soup), so we are fine.
We order drinks, but no, it’s election night, so they aren’t serving alcohol until 10 pm. Well, ok, so agua naturale sin gas. Whatever. we make our choices and close our menus and sit. And sit. And sit. There are a group of 10 French sitting next to us and then 4 other Spanish speaking folks come in. Then another 4 Germans. And still we sit. No one speaks English except for the reception guy. So after about 45 minutes, I go out to him and ask if there is a problem? No one has taken our order. He says he will check. So we sit some more. Meanwhile, our friends from the cruise, Linda, Chris and Charlie come walking in! Talk about a small world!
A few minutes later, our reception guy comes over to all of us who have now been sitting here for about an hour waiting patiently without so much as a bread basket, and he tells us they are running very late and will start with orders at 9:00pm. Oh, no way! We’ve had no lunch (remember election day), I am so hungry I’m going to cry – and there is no way I’m waiting until 9 (yeah, like I trust this guy!) to begin to order. We get up to leave and ask how much we owe for the water we drank (because of course, we couldn’t order anything else), to their credit, they gave it to us free, and we left the place as quickly as we could.
We just headed back to the hotel – which quite frankly turned out to be an excellent choice. I had an artichoke stuffed with tuna and caviar (incredible awesome!), Ed had mussels that he loved. For entrees, Ed had fried congria – which was incredible – and I had steak stuffed with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. Oh – I was in heaven. Both came with baby corns, peppers and hearts of palm. You know what? Excellent meal in a hotel – and are you ready? Only $40 US including 2 beers and wines.
We head off to bed very happy, full and satisfied!
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