Saturday, September 21, 2007 La Serena: Literally, The Calm

Saturday, September 21, 2007 La Serena: Literally, The Calm

Despite the fact that we went to bed at 12:30 last night, we didn’t wake up till almost noon! We obviously needed the rest and didn’t really mind missing the morning since it was another cloudy day. We got ready quickly and headed out to explore the town. First we wondered our way to the Plaza de Armas, stopping at pretty churches and other points of interest along the way. We went to the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas and then made our way through an artesian fair set up on the other side of the Plaza. While we were sitting in the plaza discussing the issue of men Cat Calling me but not Calli or Sam (because they look Chilean) when we walk down the street, two women came up and try to tell us our fortunes. I had to persistently decline and when they asked us where we were from and they were surprised when I said the US because they said Calli and Sam look like Chileans. It was ironic and we had a good laugh.

Next we went to La Recova, a huge, well known market in La Serena. The place is full of papaya in every form you could image (marmalade, syrup, dried, candied, nugget, and all kinds of other random treats. Everything except fresh, strangely enough) and other goodies. I splurged and bought myself a Lapis Lazuli silver ring. I’d been looking for one and I could never find one small enough for my tiny fingers. But I finally found a great silver ring that is slightly adjustable because of its design. My usual buying anxiety came into play (even though it was only about $15) but I’ve been wearing over a week and I love it. I also bought a purse/bag to replace the overly touristy Tulane one I’ve been carrying around. It slings across my shoulder and has a zipper, so don’t worry!!

We ate a great fresh fish lunch in the market and then walked to the beach. La Serena has 8 km of beaches but unfortunately it was still cloudy and not too warm, so we sat in our winter coats on the sand and chatted. We headed out before the sun went down because it was getting cold and we didn’t want to walk back from the beach in the dark. When we found out that the observatory trip was canceled again because of the clouds, we decided to find a chill restaurant/bar for once. We found a great little place and ended up staying there for over 2 hours sitting and chatting. The end of Harry Potter 4 was on and X Men came on after, so much of our conversation revolved around what we would do if we had super powers. It was deep.

After once we headed back to the hostel to decide what to do next. La Serena is known to have a decent night life and Calli and Sam wanted to check it out. But we got back, sat on our beds and kept talking. The next thing we knew it was 11:30 and we were relaxed, so again we had a chill night girl talking and laughing.