Throughout the week, we planned a grand bakery tour around the area. This morning, we carried out the tour, but it was not as grand as we originally planned. We walked down the main avenue about four blocks and then we were planning to snake back to our street stopping along the way, but we were all tired of sweets after two shops. At the first bakery, (pasteleria) Hannah and I shared a pastry covered in a vanilla cream. It was good, but what was even better was the next pastry we tried. It consisted of layers of caramel and flaky pastry and was topped with chocolate discs. The caramel tasted homemade, and was very rich and delicious. After eating those two things, even though they were shared, I was done eating sugary foods for the day. When people went back to the first bakery to grab bread, Hannah and I bought fresh fruits and vegetables at a market on the opposite corner.
After relaxing at the hotel for awhile, a small group of us headed to the beach to shop at the artisan booths. The artisans are all very talented, and many of the shops along the beach have handmade crafts, rather than mass produced goods. Many of the people tried very hard to communicate with me and Hannah, and sometimes we understood enough to have a short conversation with them. Once the people we met figured out that we did not speak much Spanish, many either started trying to talk to us in English or slowed and simplified their sentences. We walked all the way down the beach to a castle on the rock outcrop in Viña del Mar. The inside of the castle was less decorated and less architecturally interesting than I expected, but the views were beautiful.
To end the evening, most of our group went to a party at the house of one of the Chileans who lives close to the hotel. I had a lot of fun talking with some of the people there and getting to know some of the Chileans and people in our study abroad group better. It seems to me that many of the students here in Chile have studied or traveled abroad in the United States, and love telling us what cities they have visited, which for the most part are on one of the coasts. This past week has been very busy, but also a lot of fun. I can't believe our trip is halfway over and that on Friday we will be heading back to the airport for our journey home.
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