La Serena, I came back to you!

After arriving in La Serena in the midafternoon, Megan and I dumped our stuff off at our awesome hostel and then wandered around the city, searching for a place to eat. We suffered the second, but minor, tragedy of our trip in which my awesome, giant, round, green sunglasses were stolen out of my backpack as I was walking down the street. Sad times! I loved those sunglasses, but I am glad the thieves didn't take anything more important. We ate sea food soup, fried white fish, and salad at a restaurant above the market, hung out at the mall, where we ate frozen yogurt at this place kind of like Coldstone. You could mix different fruits in the yogurt. I got blueberries and raspberries. Later that night, we were joined by Sarah (!) for the Sex and the City movie (!!!). It was really funny seeing the movie in Chile, because the women in the theater were very vocal. In one scene, where a naked man is showering, the women were hooting, smacking their lips, and whistling. We were all cracking up! The movie was okay. The next day, we wandered around the city again and hit up this beautiful and peacful Japanese garden, and we of course could not resist another photo shoot.

Trying not to fall in.


Sarah looks so sassy in this photo!



Crazy-looking geese that had strange, bumpy red beaks.
Megs and Sarah on a Japanese bridge.
La Serena is a colonial city, so none of the buildings are taller than four stories and the tallest buildings in the city are churches. Here is the prettiest church, in my opinion.

In the afternoon, we wandered to the beach in Coquimbo, La Serena's sister city a few miles to the south, where we relaxed in the sun, read, and then had a heart-to-heart over a couple pitchers of beer at a beachside cafe. That night, we went out for drinks in downtown La Serena, where we met a couple guys who invited us to a club they worked at in Coquimbo. The night was a success, as the three of us made a spectacle of ourselves on the dancefloor, doing what gringas do best! We had so much fun that Megan slept through her alarm the next morning, missing her bus and forcing her to stay an extra day in La Serena with us.

I really love La Serena. I think it is my favorite city in Chile to just be...relax, hang out, feel unhurried, and be okay with not having an agenda. The city itself is so beautiful, and there is enough to do there to keep you occupied without the pressures and hassles of a big city like Santiago. It was the perfect last stop on my way back to Chillan. At this point, though, I still had a couple days of vacay left to enjoy!