Viña del Mar

I made it to the beach!  If you know me at all, you will know that the beach is my favorite place.  Any beach, anywhere, in any weather...I'm happiest when I'm at the beach.  I finally made it after being in Chile for almost a month.  The beach is about an hour and a half from Santiago (I know, I've always said I would never live more that 20 minutes from the beach, but I really couldn't help it this time) and it's really easy to get there from Santiago.  For about $10 round trip I took a very posh double-decker charter bus to Viña del Mar, one of Chile's most famous beaches.  I had been looking forward to it all week, and when it finally came down to time to go I drove everyone crazy by pushing them to get ready faster.  I wore my bikini and a sundress, packed my SPF 45 and my camera.  I was set to go!  Well when we got there I pulled my towel over my shoulders and shivered at the cold. What happened to the sun?!  It was overcast, cloudy and freezing cold.  It didn't last long though.  Here comes the sun (doo di doo doo)!  It was beautiful.  The bay was full of cargo bunker ships, but the beach was a mile of sandy paradise.  We set up camp and park ourselves on the beach for almost 4 hours (wearing plenty of sunscreen.  I'm not joking, I reapplied at least 3 times.)  It was perfect:  I fell asleep reading a good book, under the sun, feeling the sand between my toes.  I could never imagine a place more serene, more welcoming or perfect than the beach.