beach weekend take two

it's springtime in santiago, and my new favorite beach, Viña del Mar, is a short busride away. we (all girls--amy, julie, jessica, jennifer and bethany) piled into the bus shortly after class on friday and made the trip out. we stayed in a hotel that was a converted mansion, although with the confusion we sustained over booking fees and deposits i wouldn't highly recomment it. however, it included breakfast and was a short four minute walk to the beach. friday night we passed with an awesome dinner at an italian restaurant, followed by trying to get in to the local casino. they charge an entrance fee, and it's more than $6! we weren't going to pay to go in and lose money, so we skipped a block north to hit up happy hour at a bar called margaritas. they marched us gringas to the third floor where we enjoyed huge and perfect margaritas and watched the live entertainment on a television screen-- they were playing downstairs.

we woke up yesterday and did the required tourist shopping. i considered buying an ashtray for my friend andrew who grew up there, but opted for a shot glass (for myself) instead. we saw the main plaza and the quinta vergara, both featuring the old palacios from colonial times. as the heat grew we appeased ourselves with ice cream, bought big bottles of water and headed to the beach. we ended up spending five hours there, sitting in a circle and checking out everyone as much as they were checking us out. a bunch of skimboarders entertained us for most of the afternoon, and i made eyes with one in particular who to me, only got cuter as the day progressed. the best part of the afternoon with the very loud and open sex talk that transpired, only made more entertaining by the fact that no one around us understood what we were saying.

after dinner at a chinese buffet (in spanish they are called tenedor libre-- free fork), we headed up the coast to meet up with a friend from AU. her apartment was on the 20th floor of an ocean front building, and we passed the night with piscolas and merriment. we got home around 3, woke up this morning and caught the bus home. they run every 15 minutes. it was one of the best weekends of the trip.