Serene in La Serena

From the bus window...

It was crisp and promising as I walked to the bus terminal, my pack on my back, ready to catch the bus at 9:31 to La Serena, but I knew I'd have to circle in and out of the terminal because I was, as always, early.  On about my fourth lap around and through the terminal, looking at all the big, puffy bread sandwiches of hams and cheeses, I was wrenched from my meatless reverie by a hug from Gabriella who was taking her students to Valparaiso for the day on a 9:30 bus.  I waited and waited for mine, which was half an hour late, but I got talking to a couple heading the 20 some hours all the way to San Pedro de Atacama in the desert at the top of the country.  I didn't envy their journey, but k did envy that they we're able to go see that part of this sliver of a country that stretches only about 180 miles across its widest point.

The countryside was rolling hills and scrubby pines and funky shaped cactus like trees, none of which you can early see in this photo out the bus window, but I was on the top deck of the bus, the sunshine bathing me in its lovely light the whole journey while I read and ate peanuts and some teeny Fiji apples I had bought on the street the day before.

This was the first glimpse of the sea, and then the delightfully dancing wind power machines caught my eye along one off the hillsides:

I found the Hostal El Punte a short distance from the bus terminal on which I am now an expert, having spent so many hours in them during this trip.  The Hostal had my reservation, showed me to a room WITH a bathroom (I have paid my dues by sharing enough bathrooms along the road), and I took off to walk through the town.  This is the courtyard view from my window.

I trudged up and down the roads, finding little of interest or much beauty, but then stumbled on the museum which, like most I'd encountered in Santiago, was free.  Inside was historical remnants, pottery, etc.. Of the Maori people, including one of the statues from Easter Island, as close as I will get to that far off little place mid-way between chile and New Zealand.  

I kept walking in the hopes that I'd stumble on some place to eat some supper because nuts and bolts on the bus didn't really suffice for my main meal, and I was ready for a beer.  I found these funny New Zealanders at a restaurant and joined them for beer and dinner, mine an excellent fish with an avocado salad.  We had to laugh when Noel's fish arrived.  It was called labas or lapas, and we couldn't figure out what it was until the server showed us photos of an abalone kind of creature on her cell phone.  Unfortunately, on his plate, the small, hair ovoid rubbery things looked more vagina like than anything else, and we made ourselves perfectly

wretched with laughter over his meal of labia....

This morning dawned, gray and misty, and I had slept until 8:00 - unusual for this early riser, so I threw on some clothes to get to breakfast which I discovered was platters filled with slices of cheeses and pin, compressed meats and big, heavy rolls.  The coffee was some pulverized brown mixture that dissolved in the hot water to make my cup of coffee.  There were two overly sweet jams, presumably homemade, and I scarfed down one whole roll, lathered with both jams, and drank two cups of that powdery coffee concoction that zipped me up nicely before I went out for a long run.  When I got the 3 Kilometers down to the beach, I noticed loads of people with blue t shirts and numbers on them' and I realized that I was dead center in the pack of people preparing for a race.  I ran through them, following along the beach road where cones marked the race track.  Just as I got back to the park that led up to my hostel, the runners began swarming at me full bore.  I skirted the main route and got home in time for a drizzly shower (water is at a real premium here where it never rains) befor the New Zealanders came to fetch me for "breakfast," my lunch.  We found a little cafe and had soft fried eggs on big fluffy buns and coffee with foamy milk, called something beginning with a "c" that I cannot rmember.  On the way back, we stopped at the biggest super market I have ever seen and stocked up with yogurts, nuts, apples and raisins for me and they got a chicken and some pisco.  Just goes to show...  Then, we went to the beach for a picnic.  Tonight we are going to the observatory Mamalluca to see the stars.  Tomorrow, who knows?