This morning we went to some shops in Vina that were along the beach. I got some cotton candy because there were stands everywhere in both Chile and Argentina, and I’d always wanted to try it. However, cotton candy along the beach is not exactly the best idea. The mist from the ocean wet my cotton candy, which then melted onto the side of my hand. It was worth a try at least! Right after shopping, we decided to grab some lunch and headed to the seafood area of town.
I’d heard from people that Chilean seafood is supposed to be the best. When we got to the seafood area, we look at some menus and then some random local guy pointed us in the direction of a “really good restaurant.” The place was packed with locals, so we sat down and looked at the menu. We asked several people what the best thing to order is, asked the table next to us what they were eating, and then made our decisions. As an appetizer, we all split what was called the “jardin de mariscos” (garden of seafood). The picture looked good, and a lot of locals were eating it, so it seemed like a good choice. The jardin came with about 5 different types of seafood that I couldn’t even tell you the name of, even in English. Most looked like clam-type things…or the inside parts of fish…but I figured that it couldn’t be worse than what’s mixed in with Paella, which I actually really like. I took my first bite and couldn’t swallow it. It was a cold, raw, chewy, squishy thing with a very fishy taste. It tasted like they had just caught it out back, rinsed it with water, and then plopped it onto our plate; I could even feel the sand crunch between my teeth as I tried to chew it. I tried everything else in the jardin platter of mystery fish, but couldn’t really eat any of it. The three guys I was with practically finished the whole thing, while I kept eating bits of bread as I waited for my marisco empenada. My “random mix of seafood” empenada wasn’t the best empenada I’d ever tasted, but I was happy to have something that was actually cooked. My main dish came, which was the same thing the table next to us had been eating, called “chupe de mariscos.” It was pretty much just a thick soup with random types of seafood, topped with a lot of parmigiana cheese. The first couple of bites were good, but after that I couldn’t eat much of it. I honestly couldn’t identify one item in my soup, and it tasted a little fishy. I kept asking for bread, and decided to make that my meal. My experience with Chilean seafood wasn’t the best, but it was definitely interesting and I’m glad I got to try it. The restaurnt was still packed with locals when we left.
After lunch we tried to find a place called “Cerro Alegre” which it supposed to have a good view of the city up on a really tall hill. I don’t think we ended up finding the actual Cerro Alegre, but we walked up a million stairs on one hill and then walked up another hill afterward to overlook the beautiful Valparaiso. When it was getting dark we walked down from the hill (the higher up on a hill you are, the more dangerous the area is) and went to Jumbo to buy Clay’s mom some wine and chocolate as a thank you for letting us stay there.
Tonight we just hung out with Clay’s family, ate “once,” and sat around and talked. His family is so nice! I talked with the youngest son, Diego, for most of the time. He’s incredibly cute, and we played a game where I had to guess what he was drawing. The whole night was very relaxing and incredibly fun. I loved just sitting around and talking with his family, who made us feel incredibly welcome and like we were a part of their family. Little Diego dressed up in a dog costume, and we all took group pictures and talked until late. At the end of the night, Diego handed me a wrapped present containing a stuffed little purple dragon, “un regalo” for me.
This morning we went to some shops in Vina that were along the beach. I got some cotton candy because there were stands everywhere in both Chile and Argentina, and I’d always wanted to try it. However, cotton candy along the beach is not exactly the best idea. The mist from the ocean wet my cotton candy, which then melted onto the side of my hand. It was worth a try at least! Right after shopping, we decided to grab some lunch and headed to the seafood area of town.
I’d heard from people that Chilean seafood is supposed to be the best. When we got to the seafood area, we look at some menus and then some random local guy pointed us in the direction of a “really good restaurant.” The place was packed with locals, so we sat down and looked at the menu. We asked several people what the best thing to order is, asked the table next to us what they were eating, and then made our decisions. As an appetizer, we all split what was called the “jardin de mariscos” (garden of seafood). The picture looked good, and a lot of locals were eating it, so it seemed like a good choice. The jardin came with about 5 different types of seafood that I couldn’t even tell you the name of, even in English. Most looked like clam-type things…or the inside parts of fish…but I figured that it couldn’t be worse than what’s mixed in with Paella, which I actually really like. I took my first bite and couldn’t swallow it. It was a cold, raw, chewy, squishy thing with a very fishy taste. It tasted like they had just caught it out back, rinsed it with water, and then plopped it onto our plate; I could even feel the sand crunch between my teeth as I tried to chew it. I tried everything else in the jardin platter of mystery fish, but couldn’t really eat any of it. The three guys I was with practically finished the whole thing, while I kept eating bits of bread as I waited for my marisco empenada. My “random mix of seafood” empenada wasn’t the best empenada I’d ever tasted, but I was happy to have something that was actually cooked. My main dish came, which was the same thing the table next to us had been eating, called “chupe de mariscos.” It was pretty much just a thick soup with random types of seafood, topped with a lot of parmigiana cheese. The first couple of bites were good, but after that I couldn’t eat much of it. I honestly couldn’t identify one item in my soup, and it tasted a little fishy. I kept asking for bread, and decided to make that my meal. My experience with Chilean seafood wasn’t the best, but it was definitely interesting and I’m glad I got to try it. The restaurnt was still packed with locals when we left.
After lunch we tried to find a place called “Cerro Alegre” which it supposed to have a good view of the city up on a really tall hill. I don’t think we ended up finding the actual Cerro Alegre, but we walked up a million stairs on one hill and then walked up another hill afterward to overlook the beautiful Valparaiso. When it was getting dark we walked down from the hill (the higher up on a hill you are, the more dangerous the area is) and went to Jumbo to buy Clay’s mom some wine and chocolate as a thank you for letting us stay there.
Tonight we just hung out with Clay’s family, ate “once,” and sat around and talked. His family is so nice! I talked with the youngest son, Diego, for most of the time. He’s incredibly cute, and we played a game where I had to guess what he was drawing. The whole night was very relaxing and incredibly fun. I loved just sitting around and talking with his family, who made us feel incredibly welcome and like we were a part of their family. Little Diego dressed up in a dog costume, and we all took group pictures and talked until late. At the end of the night, Diego handed me a wrapped present containing a stuffed little purple dragon, “un regalo” for me. 
