We took an Uber from Santiago to Viña del Mar. We probably could have done it cheaper, but with all of our luggage, it just seemed easier. There is a highway with speed limit 120kph that connects the two cities about 115km apart. The trip was uneventful.
The terrain is hilly with a lot of scrub. Everything is pretty green right now. I imagine that, like Walla Walla, as the summer builds and rain becomes scarce, everything turns brown, but we'll see. Santiago sits at about 1800' above sea level and, of course, Viña del Mar is at sea level, so, needless to say, there was a general downhill trend as we drove.
Viña del Mar is a pretty typical beach town. You'd have a hard time distinguishing it from a beach town in California. Dense development along the beach and then hills that rise sharply to the east with homes and neighborhoods stretching all the way up to the hilltops.
The apartment is pretty large and located right on the beach. As I type this, I can hear the waves of the Pacific pounding the beach. Getting settled was a mass of competing priorities. Unpacking, making grocery lists, figuring out how to get in and out of the building, where do we put the trash, how does the washing machine work, the wifi, the electrical outlets etc. After a week of travel, we were both a bit scatter-brained most of the day.
We took a break to watch the sunset. These photos are from our patio.
