Viña del Mar y Valparaíso Sep 7-8, 2012

This was our first first trip as a group with USAC. These two cities are about an hour and a half bus ride west of Santiago and lie on the coast.

Some interesting information:
Both cities were more influenced by English settlers than by those from any other country, which can be seen in the architecture of most of the buildings. There were several times as I walked down certain streets that I felt like I was in London again because of the architectural resemblance.
Valparaiso is the current home of the Chilean Congress, not Santiago. If I recall correctly, after the coup in 1973 that overthrew the government, the congress and most government business was moved to Valparaiso. However, the president still resides and works in Santiago. I'm not sure what the logic was for having the different parts of the government in different cities, but that's how it is here!

The cities are beautiful and I felt like I was in the Chilean version of Seattle. The seafood was fresh and excellent, and the people were diverse. We were confronted by gypsies a few times which was interesting.
One thing that blew me away (and continues to astound me about Chile) was the diversity in the landscape. As to be expected from a city by the ocean, there was a lot of green all around. Lots of trees a foliage around and in the city, and then, on the north end of Vina del Mar was an amazing display of sand dunes... really?? Sand dunes right by the ocean along with every other type of green plant?? I have found that almost all of Chile contains this kind of counter-intuitive landscape and foliage.